Twisted Roses
by Miss Myrtle360
Summary: Everyone has a past. Everyone has memories. Everyone has secrets. Some are just bigger than others. LJ
1. Taking Notes

A/N: Hi everyone! Welcome to Twisted Roses, my second fic! (It's choice #1, for those of you who couldn't guess.) For those of you who read Don't Let Him Go, my other fic, this is nothing like it. As you can see, it's rated M, mostly for language, but it may take a different path as I go along...

I've been working really hard on this one, but even so, I'm not really into this chapter. Oh well, it'll get better as it goes along, I promise.

This takes place in Lily and James' sixth year. It's a bit AU, but it'll mostly follow the normal L/J qualities.

Ok, well, hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: (You know how it goes.) I really, really wish that I owned Lily, James, Sirius, Frank, Remus, and all the other characters, but I don't. (I don't want Peter. JKR can keep him.) I only own the plot and stuff you don't recognize. Yeah. -Sighs-

* * *

James Potter was late for Charms.

It wasn't like he hadn't been late before, but Charms started at 11:30, and it was, at the moment, 11:49. And while his work came easily for him and he could honestly care less about anything but food, friends, pranks, and most importantly, girls, he did have a life which didn't involve getting detentions for being late.

James sprinted through the halls, perfectly aware that all of the girls who _didn't_ have Charms at 11:30 were all staring and blushing as he rushed past. After all, he was one of the best looking boys at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and had almost the entire female population wrapped around his fingers.

You see, James Potter was not your average, everyday wizard (Or rather, underage wizard). He was strikingly good looking, with messy, jet black hair that always looked as if he'd just gotten off his broomstick, bright hazel eyes that shined mischievously behind silver wire-rimmed round glasses, and a smile that was powerful enough to make girls melt. He was also a very good Quidditch player, which compensated for his well toned body and reflexes. And, if that wasn't enough to get a girl's attention, James was currently _single_.

As James rushed through the halls, he tried to recall why he was so late for Charms in the first place. _Well_, he thought, _it could be because I was up late with that girl - what was her name? Abby? Ashley? Something with an A... _James' feet carried him up the stairs, through the corridor, around the corner, then-

James suddenly collided with something very solid, and he and it fell over in a flurry of books and screaming. Looking up, James realized that the thing he hit was in fact a girl, one with dark red, braided hair and thick-lensed coke-in-the-bottle glasses that he could barely see her eyes through.

"Ow," she said, pushing up her glasses. She seemed completely unaware that James was staring at her or even there at all.

James cleared his throat. "Um, sorry 'bout that," he said, adjusting his own glasses and standing up. He knelt down to pick up one of the girl's books.

"Don't bother," she said suddenly in an irritated voice.

James looked up, caught off guard by the girl's rudeness. "But, I - your books-"

"They aren't mine, they're Professor Flitwick's." The girl said somewhat shrilly, righting herself as best she could with the nine books in her arms. "I'm taking them down to Professor McGonagall as a favor. And besides," she added impatiently, narrowing her eyes, "Aren't _you_ supposed to be in Flitwick's class now?"

"What? Oh - yeah!" James said, suddenly remembering why he was there to begin with. And, forgetting completely about the girl, he ran down the corridor to Professor Flitwick's classroom.

"Mr. Potter, you're late," Professor Flitwick said unnecessarily as James walked into the room.

"Yes, Professor," James said, bowing his head in mock shame. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

The professor surveyed James over his small glasses. "Alright, then. Take a seat, please." And with that, Flitwick turned and continued instructing the class on the Patronus charm.

James glanced about the room and quickly found his friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew sitting in their usual seats in the back of the room. He flashed his trademark I-just-wormed-my-way-out-of-a-shit-load-of-trouble smirk at them and headed up towards the back of the classroom. However, when he saw that his seat was being occupied by a blonde Hufflepuff girl who was drooling blatantly over Sirius, he stopped and shot his friends a look that plainly said, "Thanks for saving a seat for me, guys."

"Mr. Potter, would you please find a seat? You are disrupting my lesson." Flitwick said, his tiny hands on his tiny hips.

James turned around and scanned the room for an open seat, but the only one available was in the very front of the classroom, next to a large stack of unaccompanied books.

"Mr. Potter?" It looked as if James would just have to sit in the front of the room. He inwardly groaned. How was he supposed to sleep if the teacher was a mere five feet away from him?

He shoved his books across the table and sat down. The room seemed so much smaller from up front that he wondered for a moment if this was the classroom Charms normally took place in.

James looked around him. It seemed that all of the front rows were occupied by geeks and nerds. Crossing his arms and slouching in his seat, James thought, _Some friends I have._

James' brooding was interrupted a few moments later when the red-headed girl returned to the class room. She handed a note to Flitwick, who thanked her, and turned to sit down. She froze when she saw James there.

_Huh_, James thought, staring at her over his glasses, _she must be in my fan club or something. But wait, then why didn't she want me to help her pick up her books?_ The girl took a breath and sat down next to James. She opened her notebook and began writing down practically every word Flitwick said, sitting straight and still as a statue and staring raptly at the professor. James blinked and looked forward too.

But after five minutes, James' attention was waning. Charms wasn't a blow off class for him, but it wasn't like he'd ever paid attention before. He sighed and tore a sheet of parchment off his roll.

_Sirius, you great arse_, He wrote, _why couldn't you save me a seat instead of letting your girlfriend sit back there? _

He balled up the parchment and, checking to make sure Flitwick still had his back turned, threw it to Sirius in the back of the classroom. He looked forward as the professor turned to the class.

"As I said earlier, the Patronus charm is one of immense difficulty, and is often only conjured by the most talented of wizards." He turned back to the chalk board. James looked back just in time to catch the parchment with Sirius' reply.

_Hey, it's not my fault you were late. I thought you and that girl - what was her name?- were still up in the dorms. And she isn't my girlfriend. She just sat here on her own. Besides, you're not exactly one to be lecturing me, are you? (Look next to you.)_

James turned his head to the red-headed girl next to him. She wasn't paying any attention to him, and seemed completely unaware that anything was going on around her except for the professor's lecture. James went back to the parchment.

_What, her? I don't even know her name. And why would you think that there's something going on between us? Look at her. If that doesn't spell geek, I don't know what does._

James threw the note back to Sirius who read it quickly and wrote back just as fast.

The professor turned again. "Who can tell me _why_ the Patronus is such a difficult charm?" The girl next to James raised her hand straight into the air. "Miss Evans?"

"Because," 'Miss Evans' said, "in order to produce a Patronus, you must be able to focus your entire mind on a very happy thought or memory. And in the face of danger, or even death, it is a very difficult ordeal for an incapable wizard to complete." James distinctively saw her eyes dart towards himself when she said 'incapable wizard'.

"Yes, very good. Ten points to Gryffindor." Flitwick said turning back to the board.

In the time that it had taken for the girl to answer the question and the minutes that proceeded it, James had received the note three times and thrown it back to Sirius twice. He hastily wrote another answer and threw to Sirius, who caught it just as the professor turned.

"Hm...Mr. Potter," Flitwick said. "Could you tell us the incantation that conjures a Patronus?" It was obvious that the professor knew he wasn't paying attention. James noted uncomfortably that the girl next to him had a particularly smug look on her face. She, of course, knew the answer

"Oh, um," James said, his eyes scanning his desk for something that might help him to not look like an idiot. He spotted the red-headed girl's note and quickly read. "Uh, Expecto, er, Patronum..."

"Yes indeed." Flitwick said, turning back to the board. James breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the girl next to him again. She still had her head turned to the front of the classroom, but there was a distinct frown on her bespectacled face.

James blinked and turned in time to see Sirius throw the note, but he didn't catch it. Instead, it was grabbed away from him by the girl sitting next to him. She held it tight in her hand and smirked at his bewildered face.

James quickly wiped his face clean of emotion and whispered, "Can I have that back, please?"

"I don't know, can you?" she whispered back, turning and staring ahead.

"Er," James stuttered. How was he supposed to answer that?

The girl rolled her eyes. "The proper way of stating that question is _'may_ I have that back please', not _'can_ I have that back please'."

James stared at her. "Okay..._may_ I have that back please?" He tried.

"No," was the reply

"Why not?" James asked, his patience waning.

"Because first of all, you're supposed to be paying attention to the lecture, and you can't do that if you're busy writing notes to your dear _lover boy_ back there. Second, if you can't ask for something properly the first time, it won't be given to you. Third, because you're an arrogant, bulling toerag who doesn't _deserve_ to have his precious little note back. And lastly," she said, licking her lips coldly, "because I'm a bitch who doesn't really feel like giving you your note back just so you can continue talking about me behind my back with your idiot friend."

James stared at her, completely abashed._ How did she know we were talking about her?_ He wondered. He turned around in his seat and looked at Sirius, who had his eyebrows raised. He appeared just as confused as James felt.

James turned back to his pile of books with every intention of starting a new note, but his roll of parchment wasn't on his desk. He quickly checked the floor behind and in front of his chair, but it wasn't there. He wildly looked at the girl next to him and saw that she was twirling a roll of parchment that was unmistakingly his in her long, thin fingers. James looked down at his desk, raw with confusion and anger, and saw a small slip of open parchment that read in thin, neat writing,

_Looking for something?_

James had never been more confused, angry, or annoyed in his life. He crumpled up the slip and chucked it into the wastepaper basket. Then he went back to his quiet brooding, looking sideways at the girl every so often with his eyes narrowed in slits._ What the bloody hell's her problem? _

Lily Evans was quite proud of herself.

She had just infuriated James Potter, the most 'popular' boy in school. _That's another potential problem to cross of my list_, she thought as she walked quickly to the Hospital Wing.

Her walk was a very quiet one, as nearly everyone in the corridors barely noticed her presence. But Lily didn't mind - she rather liked it. Lily wasn't one of those girls who basked in attention, but rather, a quiet bookworm who liked being alone or with her two best friends, Willow and Dathan Brinks. She reached the Hospital Wing, pushed one of the heavy oak doors opened and entered.

"Lily," a voice said from the far end of the wing. Lily smiled and hurried to the bed that was currently occupied by Willow, who eyed her contently. "I'm guessing Dathan's off wandering the halls again?"

Lily smiled. "That Dathan does like to wander, doesn't he? He didn't even come to Charms." She said, sitting on the edge of Willow's bed and dropping her bag to the floor next to Willow's three-inch-heeled combat boots. "So, how are you?"

"Fine, but I have to stay the night." Willow responded, glaring at the bed sheets.

"Well, it's not like you can help it. I'm just glad you got up here before it got really bad." Lily replied, surveying her friend. Willow was a very thin, pale-skinned enigmatic girl who had a gothic tendency to wear only black. She had very long dark brown hair that she always kept up in a knot at the back of her head. Willow's eyes were huge and strikingly violet, but no one ever saw them, as they were always hidden behind her veil of nose-length bangs. She hardly ever smiled or showed any emotion on her half-hidden face.

Willow suffered from random fits, during which she had very bad hallucinations of people dying. It was one of these fits that landed Willow in the Hospital Wing that very morning.

"So," Willow said, "how was Charms?"

"Well, Professor Flitwick went over the Patronus charm all hour. Basically stuff we learned in third year. I took notes that you can copy. Oh, and speaking of notes," Lily reached down and dug through her bag. She explained to Willow what had happened with James Potter in the hallways and how he had sat next to her in class. "And then he started throwing notes across the room to Sirius Black, and I got so annoyed with it that I stole it from Potter as he was about to catch it. He was very angry about it, but it serves him right."

Willow cocked her head to the side, her eyes dancing. "You're a very odd girl, Lily Evans. You know that, don't you?"

"Right, the Angel of Darkness is telling me _I'm_ odd." Lily replied back, snorting slightly. "Wanna read it with me?"

"Sure," Willow said, sighing, and Lily scooted closer. The two girls leaned in and read silently.

_Sirius, you great arse, why couldn't you save me a seat instead of letting you girlfriend sit back there?_

_**Hey, it's not my fault you were late. I thought you and that girl - what was her name? - were still up in the dorms. And she isn't my girlfriend. She just sat here on her own. Besides, you're not exactly one to be lecturing me, are you? (Look next to you.)**_

_What, her? I don't even know her name. And why would you think that there's something going on between us? Look at her. If that doesn't spell geek, I don't know what does._

**_Her name's Lily Evans - you know, that creepy goth girl's friend. She's the top student in our year. A muggleborn with a clean record._**

_How do you know that? You haven't shagged her, have you?_

**_No. God, you make me sound like some kind of man-whore. I saw her file when I was in Flitch's office a few days ago. Apparently, she's really good at upholding rules. _**

_You seem interested in this - Evans, was her name? Thinking of going after her, are you?_

**_I'm not interested, really, but there's something different about her. She's not your average geek, you know? I mean, it seems like behind her braids and glasses, there's an actual girl there. Perhaps a pretty one at that. It's funny, she's probably the most mysterious person I've ever seen. (Next to her creepy goth friend, of course.) I suppose that interests me..._**

Lily and Willow both looked at each other. "They both seem to be giving you _a lot_ of thought," Willow said, handing the paper back to Lily.

Lily frowned. "I don't know. Perhaps they do this to every 'geek' they see."

"Perhaps," Willow said. Then lowering her voice to a whisper, she said, "But you're not just another 'geek', are you?"

Lily surveyed Willow over her glasses. "True, but I think Black was entirely clueless to that when he wrote his reply to Potter. There's no way he could-"

"I didn't mean to imply that he knew anything, I was merely stating that his words are truer than even he knows." Willow interrupted. She sighed. "But quite frankly, I don't believe that he's any bit of a threat to you. He may be clever, but Sirius Black's head is completely filled with saw dust."

"You're right." Lily replied. "However, this situation is potentially problematic. I can't have one of the most popular boys in school nosing around in my business. After all, if he had the nerve to steal my file, he may present a large threat to what I'm striving to uphold."

"Touché," Willow responded quietly, rising to a sitting position. "But I don't really think you should worry about it. If Potter's as angry as you said he was, he and his friends will stay away from you as much as they do every other day. They'll probably stay away from me as well. After all, I am your 'creepy goth friend'." She said, quoting the note.

"Once again, you're right." Lily said, sighing. But something tells me that this isn't the end of it."

Willow sighed. If only Lily knew how right she was…

James returned to his dorm later that night to find his roll of parchment lying on his bed with a note written in thin, neat writing that he recognized instantly. It said,

_Stay away from me and my business. Tell your friends to heed that advice as well._

James scratched his head. It looked like Sirius was right - this Lily Evans was a complete mystery. And while just thinking about her made his blood simmer, there was something about her...

Like Sirius had said, the mystery surrounding her was very interesting...

* * *

A/N:So...Questions? Comments? Concerns? Lovie it? Hate it? TELL ME!

Like I said before, this one's different. Lily's trying to ward James off on purpose, which is only getting her more noticed. Willow and Dathan (This name is so hot. I'm in love with it!) are twins who are really, really, odd, but you'll learn more about them later.

Yeah, so, please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	2. Miss Perfect

A/N: Happy Holidays! This is a Christma-Kwanze-Akah present for you all!

-Sighs- Ok, so I guess the last chapter wasn't as bad as I thought...thanks to Animals are my LIFE, Briee, sweet-potter, lil'tony, miss-mags-ak, emeraldprincess01, vivphy05, Zemmie, tigerwhisper, Daisy Pixie, butterflykiss89, xStillxWaitingx, and Rapsodia for reviewing! I've never gotten so many reviews for one chapter before!

Several of you asked why I made Lily so geeky. Well, the only thing I can really say is that she has a good reason to look like that, and it's not the reason you think it is. (In other words, she doesn't wear glasses because she's entirely vision impaired. Eek, I've said to much.) Basically, you'll find out later in the story.

Hey, has anyone heard that Kelly Clarkston song, 'Because of You'? I hate every song she's ever sung, but when I heard this one, I just listened to it. I actually like it, because 1) it's pretty much the story of my life (I won't go into that.) and 2) it describesTwisted Roses' character's in a song. I felt really bad for myself when I listened to it because she took all of my characters and put their thoughts into a song before I could write them. -Sighs- Oh well, but I think you should listen to it.

Note: This takes place in _February_ of Lily and James 6th year. That might help to clear up some confusion.

Ok, no more rambling, onto chapter 2!

Disclaimer:

If ever there may be a time

When Harry and Co. would be mine

Out from my eyes would flow great streams

For it'd only happen in my dreams

(I'm sorry, I have a poets brain.)

* * *

Lily Evans awoke in the middle of the night, and couldn't for the life of her go back to sleep. 

After lying on her back counting sheep, points she had won for Gryffindor, and the number of stupid people her school housed, for two and a half hours, Lily gave up and sat up in her bed. She carefully and quietly pulled off her covers and hung her legs off the edge. Grabbing her glasses and standing, she tiptoed over to the third tapestry from her bed.

Lily turned around and scanned the room. Willow was still in the Hospital Wing, and the only other girl who shared their dorm was Emmica Traversy, who currently wasn't in her bed either.

Lily's eyes stopped and looked at Emmica's bed for a few moments. Emmica had a horrible reputation of being, for lack of better words, Gryffindor's resident slut. She was very pretty and had long, curly black hair, pale skin, amber eyes, and, according to rumor, had slept with more guys than she could count. Everyone thought that she was really stupid, really stuck up, and really, really easy. Emmica never really spoke to Lily or Willow much, but when she did, she didn't sound as though she was knowledge-impaired or the least bit stuck up in Lily's opinion. But about being easy...Emmica's not being in her bed in the middle of the night didn't really help stop the rumors in Lily's mind.

Lily sighed and turned back to the tapestry. She pushed it aside, revealing not a window but a detached section of the wall. Lily gently pushed it open, revealing a spiraling set of stairs. Carefully closing the wall behind her, Lily started up the staircase. They finally stopped in a large circular room with a sloping ceiling - the highest room in the Gryffindor tower.

Lily and Willow had stumbled upon this room in their first year after Lily had gone around the room, opening all of the curtains and letting light in. (An act which Willow had raised an eyebrow at. "Who would _want_ to let in more light?" she had said.) When they saw that the wall opened into a secret passage way, Willow and Lily had instantly followed the stairs up into this wonderful room. And, after finding Willow's twin brother, Dathan, lying on the giant canopy bed, they realized that this room connected the all of their year's dorms - boys' _and_ girls'.

Emmica hadn't been in the room when Lily and Willow had found the secret passage way, and they decided not to tell her about it. It was special, a place where Lily, Willow and Dathan could spend time together away from everyone else. No one had ever come upon their hide-away, and they were glad for it. Everyone seemed too busy doing _other things_ in their dorms to realize that their roommates randomly disappeared into the wall.

"Hey, Lily," a voice said from the canopy bed.

Lily walked into the heavily candle-lit room and smiled at Dathan. "Hey, yourself," she replied, settling herself in an over-sized chair. "Couldn't sleep?"

Dathan chuckled. "I honestly haven't had a good night's sleep since second year. Do you have _any_ idea what the Marauderers _do_ in our room?"

"Do I want to?" Lily asked, laughing a bit. _Poor Dathan_, she thought. _To have to share a room with the Marauders. They're absolute opposites! _"Must be awful."

Dathan half shrugged. "I dunno, we never really see each other until late night, so I don't really know 'em well. But if their reputations are accurate, which I wouldn't doubt, they're real assholes."

Lily smiled. "Well, Remus Lupin isn't so bad. He's pretty nice, actually. My Potions study buddy, you know? But the others...especially that Potter and Black, are right gits."

Dathan let out a breath of laughter. "Got something against Potter and Black, have we?"

Lily chose not to answer. Instead, she glanced back a Dathan, who looked as though he was attempting to sleep off a bad hangover. Dathan was almost an exact replica of Willow, with only a few obvious differences. Dathan, for one, was unmistakably a guy, a handsome one at that, and the hordes of girls who blushed whenever he looked their way were irrefutable proof. Dathan had long-ish, dark brown hair that fell into his deep sapphire eyes. He, like Willow, wore all black and was very much an enigma. Unlike Willow, however, Dathan showed emotion, though it was normally limited to anger, vague happiness, and sarcasm. He was very smart, but with his sharp tongue and habit of skipping classes, he wasn't a favorite among teachers, and his grades suffered for it.

"Nice pajamas, Lily," a voice randomly said from behind Lily's chair. Turning around, slightly startled, Lily saw Willow emerge from the girls' side staircase.

"Madame Pomfrey let you out of the Hospital wing this late?" Lily asked.

"No, I snuck out," Willow said, closing the door behind her. "You know that you're wearing all black, right? Turning into a 'creepy goth' like Dathan and I, are we?"

"'_Creepy goth_'?" Dathan asked, opening one eye. "Who said _that_?"

Lily sighed, then told Dathan about the Potter Incident, as she had dubbed it. At the end, Dathan laughed. "Ah, so you _do_ have something against Potter and Black, then." Lily grumbled. "Well, apparently Potter doesn't know who he's dealing with. You're even more clever than he is, and that's saying something, unfortunately. Secondly," Dathan said, his one eyes gazing at Lily's pajamas, "You're not turning into a 'creepy goth', or whatever. You're just wearing what one might call 'a lot of black', for lack of better words."

Lily looked down at her attire. She was wearing a black tank top, a pair of black pajama shorts with grey stripes down the side, and a pair of grey arm warmers. (It was, after all, midwinter.) Looking up, she said, "It's not _that_ much black. Not compared to you guys, anyway."

"Guess you're right," Willow said, sitting on the cherry wood desk across from Lily. "But, Lily, I'm shocked," she said in an almost monotonous voice. "I honestly don't think I've ever seen you show so much skin. You are aware that there's a _boy_ in this room, right?"

Lily snorted quietly. "Like you're one to talk," she said, glancing at Willow's short, lacey black slip that she called a night gown. "Compared to _some_ people at this school, you and I are both being down-right conservative. And Dathan's seen me in my _underwear_, so I doubt this'll faze him." She said, indicating towards her pajamas.

"I dunno, Lils, you've grown up a bit since then. Those creamy white legs of yours are a bit more than any guy could handle..." Dathan said, smirking.

Lily threw a pillow at him. "Shut up. I pride myself on _not _having anyone stare at my legs," she said, unconsciously tucking her legs under her.

"That's only because they'd never get the chance to." Willow said evenly. She lay her back down on the desk, her legs dangling off the side. "Really, though, you're probably the most conservative person our age."

"I dunno," Dathan said, sitting up. "Some of those first years have pretty low neck lines..."

Lily threw another pillow at him, which he caught. "You're a lascivious pig, looking down _first years'_ tops."

Dathan gave Lily a painful sigh. "Alas, I couldn't look down their shirts even if I wanted to, not with the ever strict _perfect prefect_ running around the school," he said, his eyes closed.

"That's low, Dathan." Willow said, also sitting up. "No one's perfect. You should know _that_ better than anyone."

"Ouch," Dathan said, lying back down. "Your words slice like a thousand knives, Will."

"_Don't_ call me Will. And _I _pride myself on slashing through the most arrogant of bastards with my cruel flurry of words."

"Lily," Dathan whined. " Willow's being meeeeaaaan."

"Stop guys." Lily said quietly. "Dathan, first of all, why would you even say that I'm perfect? You - and Willow - should know better than anyone that that's a lie." She took a deep breath. " Willow... you're right about no one being perfect, but really now, we _all_ know that Dathan's anything but."

Dathan scowled. Lily continued. "Dathan, calling Willow 'Will' makes her sound like the thing people sign before they die, and for a goth, that's really morbid. That and it makes her sound like a guy," She added as an afterthought. "And Willow, we all envy your ability to squash guys flat. It's a quality every girl dreams of possessing. And that's the end of my You've Been a Very Bad Little Boy/Girl lecture. End of conversation." Lily said, repositioning herself in her chair so that she could lie down. She was _really_ tired.

"Fine," Willow said, lying back down. "...But Dathan's right. If you showed a bit more skin, guys would be all over you."

"Damn straight," Dathan said, laying back down and raising a fist in the air.

"What part of 'End of conversation' don't you get?" Lily asked.

Dathan smirked. "All of it."

"Shut up," was the reply.

* * *

James Potter awoke in the middle of Newts Potions to a sharp rap on the head from Professor Slughorn. 

"As I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted by Mr. Potter's snores," the Potions master said, glaring down at James. "Today we will be brewing the Drought of Living Death. It's a highly complicated and dangerous potion. Can anyone recall why?" He looked around. "Ah, yes, Miss Evans?"

James stopped massaging his head and looked up. Sure enough, in the very front of the classroom, James spotted a crop of braided, dark red hair. Looking over to Remus, James asked, "Was Evans always in our class?"

Remus visibly rolled his eyes. "Only since first year," he said, a slight bit of irritation in his voice. "She and I study for this class together. Honestly, how can you be so _daft_, Prongs?"

James ignored Remus and turned his attention back on Evans. She had apparently answered the question correctly, as Slughorn was smiling and several Slytherins around her were glaring.

"To continue what I was saying," Slughorn said, moving back to the front of the classroom "As the Drought of Living Death is very complicated and difficult to brew, I will be pairing everyone up. Let's see..." He took out his reading glasses and scrolled down the attendance list. "Snape, you'll partner up with...Lupin."

"Tough luck, Moony," James said, grinning sympathetically at Remus, who glared, gathered his books and sat down next to a scowling Severus Snape.

"Ledinger aaaaaaand...Harper."

James suddenly got a strange sense of foreboding. And, as if he'd seen it coming, Slughorn called out, "Potter, you'll work with...Miss Evans."

James glanced down at Evans, whose shoulders were slumped in...was that disappointment? What girl in their right mind would be disappointed to be partnered up with James Potter?

James frowned slightly. Evans didn't seem to be moving, or even alive at all, for that matter, so, with a sigh, he gathered up his belongings and walked down to the front row.

Setting his things down, he looked at the redhead and said, "So, you and I are partners, Evans."

"So it would seem," she replied in an annoyed tone. James frowned again. He knew he definitely wasn't imagining it. This girl did _not_ want to be anywhere near him. How odd...

"You could be a bit more friendly about it," James said irritably, sitting down.

"Look," Evans said, turning to look him face on. "All I want to do is get this done so that I can keep my grades up." She pointed towards the ceiling as if James was too stupid to comprehend what she was saying. "I don't care if you do anything at all. Just don't get in my way."

James backed up a bit, startled. No girl had _ever_ acted this way to him before. "Fine," he said, somewhat coolly. But Evans wasn't paying attention. She was busy setting up her supplies, pulling out her book and looking up the potion _they_ were supposed to be brewing.

After watching her add lacefly wings to the clear, simmering potion, a curious thought stuck James. "Why don't you like me?" He asked before he could stop himself.

Evans looked up, her glasses slightly foggy from the steam. "Is that a rhetorical question?" She asked, returning to the caldron.

"No," James replied, frowning a bit.

"Really? Well I thought the answer was obvious." Evans answered without looking up.

"Oh yeah?" James asked. He didn't really like the tone this girl had used. "And the answer would be...?"

Evans rolled her eyes. "If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?" James asked. His sharp temper was getting the better of him.

"Why?" Evans asked innocently. "Because I really don't feel like explaining my actions to an immature little _boy_ who doesn't even notice what's right in front of his face," She said in an annoyingly calm voice.

James' eyes narrowed viciously. "_Immature_? That's rich. Who was it who stole my note _and_ my roll of parchment yesterday? And you're calling _me_ immature?" He said, his voice raising several decibels. There was something about Evans that made his blood boil.

"Yes," Evans said, seemingly taking no notice of James apparent anger.

James was thrown off the deep end. "Oh yeah? And what _exactly_ make me so immature? Huh? I guess compared to you, _Miss Perfect_, everyone must be immature. Or maybe it's that _you_ can't let go of the things you don't like in yourself, so you point them out in others? Is _that_ it? Huh?" He all but shouted. Several of his classmates looked over to see who was making so much noise.

Evans looked up at him, her bespectacled eyes glaring at him so viciously that James unconsciously backed up several inches. When she spoke, her voice shook. "Fine then, if you're so brilliant, _you_ can brew this potion. Good luck." And with that, she packed up her belongings and sat back in her seat, arms crossed over her chest. A vein was ticking in her temple.

James was very surprised. He hadn't expected her to get angry like that. And quite frankly, he was no where near capable of brewing the Drought of Living Death. "But," he stuttered, "but, your grade will-"

"Who _cares_ about my grades? I'm '_Miss Perfect_', aren't I? I'll be able to get it back up in no time. _You_, however, won't fair so well." She said scathingly.

James got the distinct impression that this girl was trying to punish him for something. Blinking, he turned his attention to his Potions book. "Ahhhh..." He said, examining the instructions. "You were on-"

"Step seven," Evans said, examining her long nails, her foot tapping to the beat of something only she could hear.

James looked back to the book. There were nineteen steps and only half an hour left of class. He was going to fail this assignment for sure.

Twenty minutes later, Professor Slughorn called for everyone's attention. "I'll need a flask of your potions up here within the next five minutes. By now, your potion should have turned clear."

James looked down at his caldron and was entirely amazed by what he saw. His potion was crystal clear. Letting out a sigh of relief, he poured a bit of potion into a flask and brought it up to the teacher.

When he got back to his seat, he saw that Evans had an extremely annoyed look on her face. He smirked at her and she glared. He knew she thought that he wasn't going to be able to brew the potion, and he felt a strange exhilaration at proving her wrong and annoying the hell out of her. It gave him a high he'd never felt before.

He packed up his things while humming the muggle song 'We are the Champions' just to irritate Evans until the bell rang and she rushed out.

* * *

Lily was thoroughly annoyed. 

_Of course Potter was my partner,_ she thought angrily, storming up to her dorm. _I mean, it's just so incredibly clichéd and so incredibly terrible that of course it happened. Uhhh! Why is it that I always get roped off with someone I'm trying to **avoid**?_

Reaching her dorm, Lily dumped her school bag onto her bed and went into the bathroom, emerging a few moments later with a bag filled with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, a face mask, cucumbers, and her bathrobe.

Lily was finally taking advantage of her prefect status - she was going to go take a nice, relaxing bath in the exclusive Prefects' Bath.

* * *

-Sighs- Poor Lily. And poor you. Neither have any idea what's gonna happen. -Grins evilly- I'm sorry, would anyone like to venture a guess? I'd like to see if this is predictable. 

So, d'you like it? Review and tell me, please!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	3. Birthday Surprises

A/N: Hi! Happy New Year, people!

Note one:For those of you who don't know, forty-fives are basically little records.

Note two: If you want to hear MacArthur Park, go to the Potter Puppet Pals website link on my profile and watch 'Remembering...'. **I seriously suggest that you do, because the song is used as a rememberance to Dumbledore, and it's funny. **It's about a 10 minute song though, so not all of it's in 'Remembering...', but you'll get the idea. Also, while it may seem utterly random, this song does have meaning in this story.

Note three: I kinda made the mistake of not describing the Marauderers in chapters one and two, so I'll do it next chapter. Also, Remmy's kind of a pushover in this chapter, but he'll get better, I swear.

Who here loves Dirty Dancing Havana Nights? -Jumps up and down waving arms- I do! I do!

Thanks to all those who reviewed, specifically Daisy Pixie, Animals are my LIFE, gigglefritzy, ktmur644, Briee, Rapsodia, Zemmie, ronsluvergurl123, fleur137, and Akt5us.

I don't like this chapter, but then again, I didn't like the first one either. So if _you_ don't like it, don't kill the messanger.

Well, on we go, then.

Disclaimer: -Sighs- I'm not feeling very creative today. I own nothing.

* * *

James Potter had a random, sudden urge to do something relaxing.

This probably had a lot to do with the fact that he completely showed up Evans in Potions. Ah, and what a good feeling it was.

At the moment, the most relaxing thing James could think of was to take a nice, hot bath. Unfortunately, the dorm didn't have a tub, and flooding the shower was bound to lead to awkward questions. So, to amend this problem, James took to pestering Remus, who was studying Transfigurations in the common room.

"Hey Moony, what's the password to the Prefects' Bath?"

Remus gave James a look. "...And why exactly do you want to know?" He asked, returning to his Transfigurations book.

James rolled his eyes. "Because I wanna go snog the towels," he said sarcastically. "Why do you think?"

Remus sighed. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not a prefect, so you can't go in the Prefects' Bath."

"Well, technically I'm not allowed in-"

"Technically?"

"-But that doesn't mean I can't."

"I'm not giving you the password," Remus said, closing his book and standing.

James pouted. "Pleeeaaase?" He whined, leeching onto Remus' arm. "I won't let go 'til you do."

Remus gave James another look, then sighed in defeat. "Will it get you off me?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Your hopes are depressing," Remus said. He sighed again. "It's Rose Red."

"Thanks!" James said, and, detaching himself from Remus and grabbing his invisibility cloak, he disappeared and headed off to the Prefects' Bath. (Hey, he might not be a stickler for rules, but James didn't exactly feel like getting caught right after he'd annoyed Evans to no end. He didn't have very good luck with karma.)

James made his way carefully through the hallways, making sure to avoid running into people or trudging on their feet. Then, after a short while, he reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered and saw the door. Leaning into it, James whispered, "Rose Red," and waited for the door to open.

It didn't.

Unabashed, James repeated the password a bit louder, thinking that perhaps the door had gone slightly deaf in its old age, but still, nothing happened. James sighed, annoyed, and pulled out his wand, directing it at the door's handle. "Alohomora," he whispered, and he heard the lock click. Then checking to make sure no one was coming, he quietly opened the door and snuck inside.

James had been in the Prefects' Bath before, but it still surprised him how big it was. He had actually been a tad disappointed when he wasn't made a prefect in fifth year because of it. But since Remus was allowed in, it wasn't hard to manipulate him into giving James the password.

There was a splash to James' right and he quickly spun around.

Someone was in the Prefects' Bath.

It was a girl with long, flowing dark red hair and pale skin. And she was _naked_.

Well, okay, so nothing was showing in the multi-colored bubbly water, but a guy can dream.

Of course, James had seen naked girls before, so it wasn't like this exactly fazed him. (He wasn't the most popular guy in school for nothing.) But this girl was different. Perhaps it was the light, or the fact that she had no idea she was being watched, but this girl had an air of innocence and mystery that no other girl seemed to have.

Forgetting that he was still wearing the invisibility cloak, James hid behind a stack of towels, watching the girl. She was very pretty, with her long tresses and slightly rosy cheeks. Though he couldn't see their color, James noted the lovely almond shape her eyes took on and the long brown lashes framing them. The girl had a long, graceful neck and her shoulders were slightly dusted with freckles. She appeared to be floating in the bubbly water, but was high enough above it for James to see the swell of her seemingly full breasts below her collar bone.

James willed himself not to get too excited. _Who is this girl?_ he wondered, racking his brain to find whether or not he'd seen her before. _How do I not know who this girl is? She's got to be the hottest girl in the entire bloody school! She's not...no, she couldn't be a Slytherin. They don't make Slytherins like that...or in any other house. God - who is she?_

While James was busy ranting to himself, the girl had floated to the edge he was hiding near. She laid her arms on the floor and rested her head on them, her eyes closed. Her slender back curved gracefully as she sighed in content.

The effect this unknown girl had on James was extremely powerful. And, since James is just the _master_ of non-conspicuousness, he gulped out loud.

The girl opened her eyes and looked up, searching for the source of the sound. James' breath caught when he saw her eyes. They were strikingly green, a breath-taking emerald color. With her wet, dark red hair draping all around her body, she looked positively _gorgeous_.

The girl appeared to be finished with her bath, and she swam across to the other side of the swimming pool-like bath and climbed out behind a changing curtain suspended on the wall. She appeared a moment later, a towel wrapped tightly around her curvy frame, revealing her milky-white long legs. With her back to him, she pulled on underwear, and, discarding her towel, hooked on her bra and proceeded to pull on a knee-length, pleated black skirt, a button down shirt, grey knee-highs, black mary-janes, a grey v-neck sweater, and a Gryffindor tie.

Taking out her wand, the girl enchanted her hair into long braids and dried them a second later. She pulled her black robes, walked across the room, bent down, and turned back to face James wearing thick coke-in-the-bottle glasses.

The identity of the girl suddenly became so clear to James that he froze as his brain processed the information. He had been watching Lily Evans.

He inwardly gasped. _There - there's no **way** that could be Evans. How the hell could a girl like that really be a girl like **that**?_ he asked himself, extremely confused.

Evans exited the Prefects Bath, leaving James alone with his thoughts. He sighed. "If only that...girl didn't have bad vision," he said aloud. Then, as his brain continued to process information, he groaned. Spending the next class, Transfigurations, with Evans was going to be very difficult.

* * *

Lily Evans had a random, sudden urge to run back up to her room and hide under her bed for the remainder of the day.

It was the next morning at breakfast, and Lily didn't have a great feeling about was to happen that day. Call it a premonition of sorts, but Lily just couldn't shake the idea that today was going to suck beyond all imaginable belief. And, well, it sort of already did suck, as Lily woke up on March third, her _birthday_, to a horrible wave of cramps and a budding headache.

"...Lily?"

Lily snapped out of her brooding about bodily ailments and directed herself back to the conversation at hand. "Yes, Dathan?" She asked in a slightly irritated voice. She felt an odd prickling on the back of her neck, like someone was watching her, but she shrugged it off, coming to the realization that she was simply incredibly paranoid.

"Wow, you really _weren't_ paying attention, were you?" Dathan replied, partaking in his annoying habit of answering a question's question with a question.

Willow, who was being her usual somber self, stepped in. "He was trying to see if you were paying attention by calling you a snot-nosed spotted slug-eating moron who's off her bloody tree," she said in her monotonous voice.

Lily looked back to Dathan with her eyes slightly narrowed. "Gee, _thanks_."

Dathan smirked. "Any time, Lils, any time. Though you can't blame me for the last part. Compared to everyone else, you really _are_ off your bloody tree."

Lily snorted. "Oh yeah? Well if I'm 'off my bloody tree', what exactly does that make you?"

"Who knows?" Dathan said, shrugging.

"Who _cares_?" Willow said, devouring her toast slowly. "We have more _important_ matters to deal with at the moment."

"Oh yeah? What's more important than me?" Dathan asked in a hurt voice.

Lily smiled. It was very funny to watch a girl with no emotion make fun of a guy with an ego almost as big as the Marauderers'.

"But really, what important matters have we to deal with?" Dathan asked.

Willow sighed. "Honestly, Dathan, your memory is equal in size to that of a goldfish."

"In case you didn't know," Lily injected, "that's less than three seconds."

"Ugh, not you too," Dathan whined. "So are either of you going to tell me what I did, exactly?"

Willow rolled her half-hidden eyes. "It's Lily's birthday, you idiot."

"Sweet sixteen," Lily said, half miserably. Dathan and Willow had...odd birthday traditions which Lily also qualified for. Basically, they took sick pleasure in embarrassing the hell out of each other on their birthdays.

Dathan's eyes lit up. "Happy Birthday, Lils. Ooh, this is gonna be fun."

Lily stared at her eggs. "For _you_, maybe."

"Oh Lily, stop acting so down-hearted," Willow said, patting Lily's back. "It will only add to the amount of torture we'll put you through."

Dathan smiled at Willow. "Hey, if Willow can survive drawing attention to herself on _our_ birthday, you can on yours," he said to Lily through his mouthful of kippers.

Lily bit back a grin. In truth, she always looked forward to this day, as much as she hated drawing attention to herself. It was her father's letter she was dreading. He was under this strange delusion that Lily was seven as opposed to being nearly out of her teenage years.

And of course, just as the thought had entered her mind, a small barn owl swoop down and dropped a nearly flat, square parcel next to Lily's plate, nearly upending Willow's goblet.

"Ah, it seems Daddy Dearest didn't forget your birthday," Willow said, eyeing Dathan somewhat more coldly than usual.

Lily sighed and ripped open the brown paper. Inside she found an old forty-five, a new record, and a letter on generic paper.

"Ooh, Muggle music," Willow said, lifting up the forty-five."...MacArthur Park...?"

Lily smiled. "Yeah, and this one's The Police. MacArthur Park was my favorite when I was little. I used to know all of the words to it, but it was made in the early sixties, so I haven't heard it in _ages_."

Dathan looked at Lily. "...Well _sing_ it for us."

Lily turned her face toward him, an eyebrow raised. "You're not serious."

"Oh but I am," he said, smiling.

"Uh, no."

"Uh, yes."

Lily sighed. She wasn't exactly in the mood to argue with anyone this morning. "Fine. But you'll have to listen good because I'm not singing it loud."

"Okay, then," Dathan replied, and he and Willow scooted closer to Lily.

Lily took a deep breath and began to sing...

_Spring was never waiting for us, girl_

_It ran one step ahead_

_As we followed in the dance_

Dathan frowned a bit. "I think I know this song," he said.

"It's 'The Cake Song'." Willow said knowingly. "Mum used to sing it to us."

"Really?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, I remember," Dathan said, "Before Dad left." He took up the next line of the song.

_Between the parted pages_

_And were pressed in love's hot fever iron_

_Like a striped pair of pants_

Lily and, surprisingly, Willow joined in and sang the next part of the song.

_McArthur's Park is melting in the dark_

_All the sweet green icing flowing down_

_Someone left the cake out in the rain_

_I don't think that I can take it_

_'Cuz it took so long to bake it_

_And I'll never have that recipe again_

_Oh noooooooooooo_

People at the Gryffindor table were stopping to stare at the trio, who all had surprisingly good voices for people who hardly talked to anyone besides themselves.

Lily took up the next part, as neither Dathan nor Willow remembered it.

_I recall a yellow cotton dress_

_Foaming like a wave_

_On the ground around your knees_

_The birds like tender babies in your hands_

_And the old man playing checkers by the trees_

Willow and Dathan joined in for the chorus.

_MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark_

_All the sweet green icing flowing down_

_Someone left the cake out in the rain_

_I don't think that I can take it_

_'Cuz it took so long to bake it_

_And I'll never have that recipe again_

_Oh noooooooooooo_

The three lowered their voices very quietly, as it did in the song.

_There will be another song for me_

_For I will sing it_

_There will be another dream for me_

_Someone will bring it_

_I will drink the wine while it is warm _

_And never let you catch me looking at the sun _

_And after all the loves of my life_

_After all the loves of my life _

_You'll still be the one_

Several people were snickering back-handedly at the three, but Lily, Willow, and Dathan plowed on, not noticing the antics of their fellow students.

_I will take my life into my hands _

_And I will use it_

_I will win the worship in their eyes_

_And I will lose it_

_I will have the things that I desire_

_And my passions flow like rivers through the sky_

_And after all the loves of my life_

_Oh, after all the loves of my life_

_I'll be thinking of you_

_And wondering why_

Lily and Willow hummed the musical interlude that followed as Dathan swayed drunkenly to the tune. The three finished the song in quiet extravagance.

_MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark_

_All the sweet green icing flowing down_

_Someone left the cake out in the rain_

_I don't think that I can take it_

_'Cuz it took so long to bake it _

_And I'll never have that recipe again_

_Oh no_

_Oh no_

_No, no_

_Ohhhhhhhhhhh noooooooooooo_

Willow took a breath and said, "And at the ending, Harris suffers an irreversible gender change."

Dathan laughed. Lily, on the other hand, who finally realized that people were staring at them, blushed wildly. She leaned into the others and asked, "We weren't singing _that_ loud, were we?"

"We weren't," Willow said, returning to her composed, dignified self as everyone returned to their breakfasts. "Dathan on the other hand..."

"Hey, I'm a good singer!" Dathan exclaimed indignantly.

"She didn't say that you weren't," Lily replied. "But you apparently allowed everyone to add to their 'What Not to Do in the Great Hall at Breakfast' list. Number one: Sing Muggle hippie music."

Dathan huffed. "Fine, but does that qualify as the embarrassing thing Lily has to do today?"

"Yes!" Lily said loudly, jumping up into a standing position, her hands on the table. People were starting to stare again. "Please?"

Willow sighed. "Yes, it does qualify," she said in a disappointed voice, "But unfortunately _we_ got embarrassed in the process."

"That would be called karma," Lily said, lowering herself back into her seat. She still felt someone staring at her. Thinking it was because they thought she was insane, Lily glanced down the Gryffindor table and found herself staring into James Potter's eyes. Quickly looking down at her plate, she asked her friends quietly, "Is Potter staring at me?"

Dathan and Willow both glanced down at Potter. "Yup," they said simultaneously.

Lily sighed heavily. "Great. He was doing that all through Transfigurations yesterday evening, too."

"You're sure you're not just being paranoid?" Dathan asked, running a hand through his dark hair.

Lily rolled her eyes. "You were the one that looked back to check and see if he was staring at me in Transfigurations, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Dathan said stupidly, returning to his bacon.

"That's interesting," Willow said, glancing back down the table, intrigued. "Oh, by the way, you haven't opened your letter from your father."

"Hm?" Lily asked. She hadn't been thinking about the letter at all. "Oh, right."

"Read it out loud," Dathan said, loading more bacon onto his plate. "I could do with a laugh."

"Oy...ok," Lily said, opening the letter. "_Dear daughter_, - wow, he forgot my name again - _Happy Birthday. I enclosed your gift and hope you enjoy it_."

"We will!" Dathan said.

"Muggle music is refreshing," Willow added, nodding.

Lily continued. "_I would like to inform you that your sister, Petunia_, -right, like I don't know who my sister is - _has recently gotten engaged to a Mr. Vernon Dursley. The wedding will be held this summer, hopefully once you're home, and you will be receiving a formal invitation soon. I believe you will be a Bride's Maid_. Great another lovely occasion for me to wear a fluffy pink dress at."

"I'm guessing he's forcing her to invite you, then?" Willow asked, looking over Lily's shoulder. It was a known fact between the three that Lily and her sister did _not_ get along.

"Looks like it," Lily replied. "Anyways... _I hope your friends aren't corrupting you still with their Gothic views. The last thing I need is a rebel daughter. Remember to keep those grades up. Oh, and this summer, I will be away on business, so please ask your friends to allow you to stay over for the holiday. They will be allowed to attend the wedding as well. (Please don't mention the corruption part.) With best regards, Father_." She put the letter down and looked between Willow and Dathan. "Sorry, guys."

"Don't worry about it, Lily," Willow said calmly.

"Yeah, your father's a bloody git. 'Snot your fault," Dathan added, munching contently on the remainder of his breakfast.

"I'm sorry, did you just say 'snot'?" Lily asked, taking a drink from her goblet. Her headache had taken a turn for the worse after that irritating letter.

"My, what an uncivilized brother I have," Willow said, eyeing her fingernails.

"Hey, I resent that!"

"Ah, please shut up," Lily said, massaging her temples. "Between singing, my father's letter, Potter staring at me, and you two bickering, I've gotten a headache. Thanks a heap."

"Sorry, Lily." Willow said. "Oh, and Potter's staring at you again."

"Now, now, Will, we mustn't annoy the birthday girl," Dathan said in a sing-song voice.

"_Don't_ call me Will. I was given the name Willow for a reason."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?"

Lily groaned and buried her head in her arms, wishing she had followed her gut instinct and stayed in bed.

* * *

James Potter was staring at Lily Evans, attempting to recall what she had looked like without her braids and glasses.

"...Prongs...Prongs...EARTH TO PRONGS," Sirius said, waving his hand in front of James' face.

"Huh?" James said, finally realizing that all three of his friends were staring at him. "What?"

Remus looked intently at James, a hint of a frown on his face. "Sirius called your name seven times just now. Is there any particular reason why you're staring at Lily Evans?"

James flushed. "What? I wasn't staring at her," he said indignantly.

"Yes you were," Peter retorted, backing up a bit as James glared daggers at him.

"Fine," James said in defeat. "She and her gothic friends were singing an old song that I happen to know, and I was just thinking about it and my gaze happened to drift that way," he lied. "I don't like her or anything," he added quickly.

"'Happened to drift' my ass," Sirius said, only to get whacked in the head by a red-faced James

_

* * *

_

A/N: Wow, that was a long chapter. What'd you think? Really, now.

Well, please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	4. Miserable Quidditch

A/N: Hi everyone! -Eyes go wide and runs away very, very fast- I'm sooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyy! Please don't kill me!

I was thinking about it, and "Twisted Roses" has too many syllables to say everytime I refer Twisted Roses. So from now on, I'm callin' it "Twises" ...Stop looking at me like that.

I dunno exactly, but I've heard that either James was a Chaser or a Seeker. He's a Seeker here, so if you've gotta problem with that...well, **just ignore it**. I'm sorry, but it's not that crucial to the story.

Thanks to morgim1103, kooky, LilJester, lil tony, tigerwhisper, -Scp-, Briee, lilred-07,Black For President (I love and totally agree with your pen name), amanda, Mrs. Roberts, Akt5us, Daisy Pixie, lils03, Kute Anime Kitty, sarafm, Zemmie, Rapsodia, and Animals are my LIFE for reviewing! That's the most reviews I've ever gotten for one chapter!

I've just gotta plug this - in her review, Zemmie said that James was 'slowly getting into LUST with Lily'. And that, of course, is becoming true. After all, James _is_ a guy, so you can bet that all that time he's spent staring at Lily, he was actually undressing her in his mind, trying to imagine what he couldn't see below the water.

Well, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: Welcome to the wide world of fanfiction, called so because it's **fans** taking **fiction** and **making it their own**. Hence the disclaimer part.

* * *

Lily Evans was still not feeling well a week later, on the day of a Gryffindor Quidditch match.

It wasn't like Lily actually _liked_ Quidditch, but she loved Gryffindor and would never turn down the opportunity to shove it in the Slytherins' faces that her house was better. (She _did_ have her pride to consider.) So there she was, on a cold and miserable Saturday afternoon, dragging Willow through the crowd of overzealous Gryffindors and up to the very top of the stands encircling the Quidditch pitch. She groaned slightly as her stomach knotted painfully.

Once they found their seats, Willow and Lily sat down. Pulling a paperback novel out of her coat sleeve, Willow opened to the marked page and said, "Lily, I have no idea _why_ you bring me here. I'm not exactly a great fan of sports, you know. And if you're in so much pain, you shouldn't be up here, either."

Lily rolled her eyes as Willow looked down and began to read. "Honestly, Willow, you know very well why I bring you here - because Dathan flat out refuses to go to any public event that has nothing to do with food, and I don't want to be the only one without someone to scream with when Gryffindor wins. And my stomach's fine, thanks, it just needs to get over itself and let me live a little."

"Whatever you say," Willow replied, not looking up. "But I'm not screaming. And it's lovely to know you'd rather spend this time with Dathan than with me."

Lily rolled her eyes again, knowing that Willow wasn't serious. She scanned the crowd, rubbing her arms to keep warm. Snow was falling lightly over the field, dusting the sea of hats, coats, and gold and crimson scarves in front of her. There were banners that boldly displayed insults to the Slytherin team and a few guys who had painted their faces for the event.

All in all, Quidditch was way over-dramatized in Lily's opinion, but she somehow managed to find pleasure in watching the players soar around on their fast brooms with a grace she could never begin to imitate. There was just something romantic about brooms, but due to her violent fear of heights, Lily had only flown about six feet off the ground in first year and hadn't touched a broom since.

A strong gust of wind whipped Lily's long braids around, making it look as if she had live wires sprouting out of her head. She laughed as she tried to tame her wild locks.

"Hey, Lily," a voice said, bringing Lily out of her vain attempts to control her hair. She looked up and saw Remus Lupin smiling warmly at her from behind his Gryffindor scarf.

"Hi," she said, smiling back. Remus was her Potions study-buddy, so they were somewhat close. "Here, sit down." She scooted over on the bench to make room for him.

"Thanks," he replied, taking the seat to her right.

Willow, who was on Lily's left, seemed to notice the movement going on around her, because she said, "Nice to see you again, Remus," without looking up.

"Hey, Willow, nice to see you too," Remus said brightly, reclining a bit against the back of the stands. "It's freezing out here, isn't it?"

"Yeah", Lily said, shivering. "It must be horrible for the players, having to fly in this." She indicated down towards the pitch.

Remus smiled. "Oh, I don't know, James and Sirius are on the team, and they don't complain _too_ badly."

Lily let out a frustrated sigh. She just couldn't escape that dratted James Potter, could she?

Remus noticed her reaction and chuckled. "That's right, you don't like James, do you?"

"That's a bit of an understatement," Willow said, still staring down at her book.

Lily massaged her aching stomach. "Well, would _you_ like a guy who is seemingly out to get you and has been staring at you around the clock for the past week and a half?"

Remus laughed again. "Probably not. But you shouldn't mind James, he's just a misguided teenage boy who has a tendency of acting like an immature git."

Lily opened her mouth to reply but was drowned out by the commentator, a fifth-year Hufflepuff by the name of Jimmy Renolds, introducing the teams that were about to play. "And here's the Gryffindor team! Lead by Captain and Seeker Potter, Beaters Black and Quigley, Chasers Hudson, Spinnet, Quinn and Keeper Kansuko! And for the Slytherins, Captain and Beater Marquette, Beater Bradley, Seeker DeLasel, Chasers Hopkins, Radley, Shull and Keeper Donovan!" There were cheers from all sides of the pitch as the team captains shook hands and Madam Hooch stepped out onto the field. She blew her whistle, and all of the players shot up into the air. "And the game begins!"

Lily grinned at the exhilaration of it all. She glanced over at Remus, who was standing up and cheering on his friends on the team. She watched as the wind toyed with his long, light brown hair and blew his bangs into his warm grey eyes. He was mysterious, handsome, smart, kind, friendly - all of the things Lily ever found attractive in a guy, along with the rest of Hogwarts' female population. But she and Remus were like brother and sister, so she knew that they would never get together. And besides, it wasn't as if she _liked_ him, he was just...perfect.

Lily shook her head to clear her thoughts and glanced over at Willow as the announcer yelled, "And Perry Quinn scores! You go, girl! That's ten points to Gryffindor!" She was still immersed in her book, completely unfazed by the noise going on around her. Lily sighed. Willow was Willow, no matter how you looked at her.

After about twenty minutes of watching the Chasers have an all out war over the Quaffle and the Beaters swinging their bats left and right as opposing players came their way, Lily's attention was waning. Quidditch was fun to begin with, but watching the teams do the same moves over several times got a tad boring. Her stomach was at it again, and she longed to be in her room, catching up on some much needed sleep. She sighed and glanced upward, watching the snow swirl down from the grey sky.

Lily blinked as the little sunlight that there was glimmered in the sky. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she saw something small and gold hovering two feet above her head. _The Golden Snitch!_

Lily glanced around, her eyes wide. No one else seemed to notice that the prize of the Seekers, in this case, Potter and DeLasel, was located a mere arms length away from her.

Then suddenly, the announcer stopped his back-and-forth commentating and yelled, "Potter's seen the Golden Snitch!" Lily looked up and saw Potter speeding right for her, DeLasel hot on his trail. She ducked as he zoomed overhead, effortlessly grasping the Snitch in his outstretched hand.

Looking up, Lily heard the Slytherin Seeker curse loudly as Potter flew back down to the pitch. Then, as if he'd just realized who he'd nearly decapitated in the process of getting the Snitch, he threw a glace back at her. Lily met his gaze with a look that very clearly said, "Thanks for fulfilling my daily requirement of nearly getting run over by an idiot on a flying broomstick". She thought she saw him shiver, but it was probably from the cold and not from the ice daggers her look was throwing at him.

The announcer was singing something along the lines of the Muggle song 'We Will Rock You' as the crowd cheered and filed onto the pitch. Remus next to her was clapping and whistling. Willow was, of course, still read. "It's over?" She asked, still not looking up.

"Yup," Lily said, somewhat tiredly, standing up.

"Damn, and I was just getting to the good part too," Willow said, closing her book for the first time that day and standing up. Her all black attire stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of crimson and gold.

Lily bit back a laugh. "Only you would use a Quidditch game as an excuse to catch up on your reading."

"Yup, and that's why you love me," Willow said in her monotonous voice.

Remus ran a hand through his hair and tightened his scarf against the cold wind. "Well, I'll see to you guys later. Wednesday, right Lily?"

"Yup! Bye Remus!" Lily said.

"So long," replied Willow.

The two girls pushed their way through the crowd and managed to get back to their dorm in a few minutes' time. Shedding their coats, Willow fell back onto her bed and Lily glanced out the window at the snow that was falling heavier by the minute. Hogwarts was so beautiful in the winter. Now, if only she could do something about the cold...

"Lily?" Willow said from her position on the bed.

"Yeah?" Lily replied, moving away from the window to better look at her friend.

"Do you like Remus Lupin?"

Lily felt heat rise to her cheeks. She took a deep breath and sighed. "I - I don't _like_ him. But he is everything I've ever wanted in a guy..."

Willow propped herself up on her elbows and gave Lily an annoyed look. "I was watching you at the game. You were throwing a lot of glances his way."

"I thought you were reading," Lily said, almost coolly, turning and walking towards her desk.

"I was, but I do have eyes, you know. And it looks to me like yours were concentrated on things other than the game."

Lily sighed. "Honestly, Willow, I think of Remus as a brother. It's true that everything about him is attractive, but I can't really picture thinking of him in any other way. It's kinda like Dathan and I."

"Okay, then, but you'd better not start looking at my brother that way. I think I might just have to find a nice bush to throw up behind." Willow said, dropping the subject and sitting up.

The door to their dormitory opened and Emmica Traversy stepped carefully inside, a frightened and forlorn look on her pretty face, almost as if she'd just been crying. She looked up and saw Lily and Willow looking at her and took a breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," she said.

"Not at all, we'd just finished our conversation," Lily replied, casting a worried glance at Emmica's hopeless expression.

"You alright?" Willow asked, a look very close to concern on her half-hidden face.

"What?" Emmica answered, looking slightly startled that anyone would ask her such a question. "Oh, I - I'm fine. Nothing to worry about," she answered, placing an obviously fake smile on her delicate face.

"Are you sure? You look...," Lily said, taking a step towards the girl in question.

"No, I'm fine. Really," Emmica said, wringing her hands. "Thanks for asking, but it's nothing that can't be fixed." She turned towards the door. "I'll see you guys later," she said, looking at both of them over her thin shoulder and smiling. She closed the door behind her, her light footsteps trailing down the stairs.

Lily frowned at the closed door. "I wonder if she's really okay..."

"It looked a lot like she was trying to hide something," Willow said, looking back at Lily.

"_I_ could have guessed as much," Lily replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, I mean it's like she has this...aura around her that screams, 'There's something about me I can't tell you'," Willow clarified, laying back down on her bed.

"Well, whatever it is, I hope she's going to be okay," Lily said, concern laced into her voice.

* * *

James Potter was sitting in the common room, a Butterbeer in one hand and the shoulder of a busty blond girl in the other. 

After all, Gryffindor winning one of the biggest Quidditch games of year was definitely something to celebrate, which explained the party surrounding James where he sat.

"That catch was brilliant, James," the girl next to him purred, sliding her hand onto his thigh.

James gave her his knee-melting smile and said, "That it was, er..."

" Lydia," the girl prompted him. " Lydia Cook, remember? We went out last year."

"Oh, yes, I remember," James replied, clearly not remembering. But then again, he'd been out with so many girls, he should be expected to remember every one of them. _But I should remember her huge-_

"Prongs!" James looked up from his less than clean thoughts and saw Sirius coming towards him, trailed by a gaggle of giggling and blushing girls.

"Hey, Pad," he replied. Turning to the girl, Lydia, he said in a silky voice, "Can we pick this up later?"

"Of course", she said, a seductive twinkle in her eyes. She kissed him on the cheek, then scampered off to a group of girls who where no doubt asking for the juicy details on James.

Sirius sat down besides him on the comfy sofa. "Did I spoil your fun?" He asked, grinning at James.

"Not at all," James replied, taking a swig of his Butterbeer. "She was just leaving."

"Bit cold, aren't you, to a thing that hot?" Sirius said, opening himself a bottle. "What's her name, anyway?"

James' gaze landed on the stairway, where a girl with glasses in a black spaghetti-strap shirt and green pajama bottoms was coming down the stairs, looking angry. Her braided, dark red hair gave her identity away instantly. "Evans," James muttered, still staring at the stairs.

"Really?" Sirius asked, following James gaze to the stairs. "She's not by any chance related to the Evans you're staring at, is she?"

James blinked. He'd never been caught staring at anyone. Looking away he said, "I was just making a note that such geeky girls go to parties. The other girl's name is Lydia Cook, or something like that."

"Ah yes, the one you dated last year." Sirius replied, gulping down half of his Butterbeer.

"Why does everyone but me remember me dating her?" James asked.

Sirius gave James a weird look. "How could you forget her gigantic-"

"Potter!"

James looked around, his eyes falling on Evans, whose hand were on her hips. Her expression behind her glasses was one of loathing.

Quickly regaining his composure, James slid a cocky smile on his face. "What can I do you for, Evans?"

The redhead's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," she said, closing her eyes for a second. Opening them, she started again. "Do you think it's possible that this party could get any_ louder_?" Annoyance was laced into her voice.

James shrugged. "Sure," he replied, pointing his wand at the Wizard Wireless that was supplying the music, which rose several decibels as a result.

Evans glared at him. "That's _not_ what I meant," she spat at him. "Turn it down. _Now_."

"Why?" James asked, pretending to be completely clueless. Evans was just so much fun to get riled up.

"_Because_," she replied, forcing her voice to remain calm, "_some_ of us are actually trying to get _work_ done."

"What're you talking about? Everyone's down here partying."

"I wasn't down here until two minutes ago, and there are three more people upstairs."

"I'm sorry," James said, pretending to be. "I meant everyone who _matters_."

"_That's it_," Evans all but yelled. She reached forwards and grabbed a very startled James around the collar. "You listen to me and you listen to me good, Potter," she demanded, her face inches from his. "I tried being polite, but _you_ wouldn't listen, so now I'm not gonna be so nice. You _will_ turn down that music and tell everyone to shut their damn mouths, or I will personally see to it that the most pain-inflicting medieval torture device is unearth and put you through it. Do you understand?"

James smirked at her. "You don't have the guts to torture someone."

Apparently he should have just kept his mouth shut, because Evans reaction was downright scary. She snarled and shook him hard. "Are you _sure_ about that, you conceited asshole?" She asked once the shaking stopped. "Because I wouldn't be if I were you. You don't know me, let alone know my tendencies when it comes to people I _hate_. And since you're here and obviously have nothing else going on, answer me this: WHY THE HELL ARE YOUALWAYS STARING AT ME?" James stared at her blankly. No one ever caught him staring. Evans read the look on his face like a book with huge text. "My God, I've never seen anyone so conspicuously naive. And here I though you were an experienced womanizer. How incredibly disappointing."

She let go of his collar and James stepped back, massaging his throat. "You're bloody insane," he said, glaring down at her.

Evans smirked. "Don't you forget it."

"Lily!" Someone shouted from the other side of the common room. James looked and saw Patrick Greenly, the Head Boy, walk up to Evans.

"Yes, Patrick?" She asked sweetly, not at all like she had acted a moment before.

"I was hoping to catch you here," the Head Boy replied, a sickeningly sweet smile on his face. He glanced up and saw James staring at him. "Great catch, Potter," she said smiling at James, who felt like gagging himself.

"Lily," Greenly said. "I need your help." James had forgotten that Evans was a Prefect and realized that she'd probably be able to get way with torturing him. That didn't comfort him any.

"What is it?" She asked, a look of concern on her face. It seemed she was bipolar as well.

"Oh, nothing to do with school," Greenly said, scratching the back of his head. "It's actually a...personal problem."

Evans frowned a bit. "...Yes?" She prompted.

"Well, you're Emmica Traversy's...roommate, right?" The Head Boy asked, obviously uncomfortable.

"Yes..."Evans replied. "...Why?"

"Because she's been...stalking me recently," Greenly said, frowning. "I've told her to back off and go away, but she won't. I was wondering...since you room with her, would you mind telling her to stay away from me?"

The redhead was giving him an odd look. "Did she tell you _why_ she following you?"

"Urm...no..."Greenly said, not meeting Evans eyes. James wondered how Evans couldn't notice. Then, glancing at her reaction, he realized that she had.

"...Okay," Lily said slowly, still frowning. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, Lily!" Greenly said, throwing his arms around Evans, who seemed startled. James recognized it instantly as a clever ploy to feel her up. He should, he'd practically invented it. Glaring at the back of Greenly's head, he caught Evans glaring right back at him, realizing again that he'd been caught staring.

"Well, I'd better get back to the Head Dorms," Greenly said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "See you later?"

Evans stopped glaring at James long enough to smile at the Head Boy and say, "No problem, Patrick."

Once Greenly had left the room, Lily turned back to James, her eyes blazing. "_What _did I tell you about _staring_ at me?" She thundered. When James didn't answer, she stormed off up the stairs, glaring at James, who was, once again, staring.

"Is she gone?" Sirius asked from his refuge behind the couch.

"Yeah," James said, running a hand through his naturally messy hair.

Sirius sat down beside him with a sigh. "Wow, that redhead's got one fiery temper."

James didn't reply. His eyes were on Lydia, who gave him a seductive smile and, saying goodbye to her friends, walked off towards the refreshments table, swinging her hips all the way.

Sirius rolled his eyes at James. "No no, go on ahead and leave me here for your little girlfriend. Well, not so little, I guess."

"Thanks," James said, springing up and sauntering off towards Lydia. He'd show Evans an experienced womanizer...

* * *

Lily Evans was asleep, peacefully dreaming, the events of that evening forgotten. 

She sighed in her sleep and snuggled into her covers when something in her brain went off and she woke with a start.

Adjusting her eyes to the darkness, she saw the figure of a girl with long, curly hair standing at the edge of her bed. "Emmica?" She said, sitting up and quickly lighting a candle.

As the light spread over the other girl, Lily's eyes went wide. Emmica's white tank top was stained red. Blood was running from thick cuts in her wrist down her hands, forming thick puddles on the floor.

Emmica looked into Lily's eyes, the determined looking face drenched from tears. "Tell me, Lily," she said, so quietly that Lily almost didn't hear her choked voice. "Why does 'gravid' sounds like 'grave'?"

Before Lily could do anything, Emmica slumped to the floor and was still.

* * *

A/N: -Sharp intake of breath- I didn't mean to write that in so soon, but it just happened. Now quick, everyone find a dictionary and look up 'gravid'. Big plot twist here. It was actually inspired by an awesome book called A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. Read it. That's not a request. -Laughs- But really, it's awesome.

Well, hoped you enjoyed! Please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	5. Beauty Kills

Books » Harry Potter » **Twisted Roses** B s : A A A Author: Miss Myrtle360 1. Taking Notes 2. Miss Perfect 3. Birthday Surprises 4. Gravid Quidditch 5. Beauty Kills Fiction Rated: M - English - Drama/Romance - Reviews: 69 - Published: 12-11-05 - Updated: 01-24-06 id:2698749 

A/N: Yo! I actually updated in a just week! Rejoice, all of you, now!

This chapter took a lot out of me. It's the most depressing thing I've ever written. It's one of those things that you love but hate at the same time. God, I really wish I never had to write another one of these again, but this _is_ a dark fic, so I guess I've sorta sold my soul on this. Oh well...but like I said, it's depressing. Don't say I didn't warn you.

James' part in this chapter is shorter than usual, only because he's not important at the moment, as those of you who actually went and looked up 'gravid' already know. For those of you who didn't bother -grumbles angrily- ...you'll find out. Actually, this is a short chapter in general. I'm sorry.

Okay, I can't remember who it was (And I even went back and checked), but someone was commenting on the fact that they liked how Lily didn't have about three times as many friends as James. Well...I was thinking it over, and this fic is actually gonna span basically up untilLily and James' death, so there will obviously be new characters introduced. And well,a lot of themare gonna befriend Lily. So when I said that Lily and her crew were outsiders and weren't meant to have a lotta friends, I wasn't really thinking ahead as far as this story goes. So I apologize.

-Sighs- I know, I know, I forgot to put Sirius' description in the last chapter. (Not that anyone noticed. They were too busy giving me the third degree over Emmica.) I'll do it next chapter.

Thanks to Animals are my LIFE, LilJester, morgim1103, Akt5us, Rapsodia, Briee, rubberband11, maraudermarshall, -Scp-, sarah is kooky, Saigo no Megami (What does your name mean in Japanese, anyway?), Daisy Pixie, and Mahazzy for reviewing! I have just one less review for this fic than for my other one! Yay!

Well, onto chapter five. -Waves black flag-

Disclaimer: Attention, People of Earth! I bring good news to all! J.K. Rowling has died and left me with all of her copyright privilages! Oh wait, there seems to be some fine print here...it says...MM360 owns nothing...well isn't that just great.

* * *

James Potter was drifting off into a peaceful slumber after snogging that Lydia girl to kingdom come.

Well, actually, he was attempting to sleep. James never slept well, and tonight didn't seem to be an exception.

It may have been because James' brain was revved up on trying to recall how good Lydia was, mostly because he had absolutely no recollection of doing anything resembling dating her at all.

But there was something else, too.

Every time James closed his eyes, he saw flashes of Lily Evans floating around in the Prefects' Bath. He'd had a very close call with her that evening, when she was screaming at him about being too loud, if that's even what she was screaming about. He hadn't really been paying attention to much of what she was saying.

Once he saw her up close, James had very different thoughts running through his mind.

Her long hair was coming loose from her fiery braids, framing her face and curling slightly down her exposed neck. Her tank top hugged her torso tightly, revealing curves that James hadn't seen when Evans was taking her bath. Then, when she was shaking him, though it jumbled his mind a bit, it hadn't stopped him from noticing that one of the thin straps on Evans' shirt fell down over her freckled shoulder, leaving her skin on that side bare. Then her glasses slid down her nose, and James saw her eyes. He'd been lost in those deep green pools for a second, but luckily, she hadn't caught him staring. _Very_ lucky, because knowing her, she'd probably have killed him.

_Dammit_, James thought. _Evans has **invaded my brain**_. He glanced over at his clock, which read 2:19am in lurid green letters.

James rolled onto his back and sighed. He needed to think this over. Being the womanizer that he undoubtedly was, he could usually read girls like books, but Evans was a completely different story. She annoyed the hell out of him. He loved irritating her. She was one of the nerdiest people he'd ever seen, but under that facade was the sexiest person he'd ever seen. Evans was just so damn confusing.

That did it. James' brain was working in overload. He would never fall asleep like this. He sat up in bed, rubbed his hazel eyes before pushing his glasses up on his nose and climbing out of bed. He tip toed over to the door, knowing full well that there'd be hell to pay if he woke up any of the other four guys in the dorm.

After descending down the boys' staircase, James laid down on one of the scarlet couches surrounding the dying fire in the Gryffindor common room. He rested his head onto he couch's arm and bent his knees, closing his eyes while thinking about how to handle his budding lust for Miss Evans.

There was a sudden noise from the girls' staircase that sounded like someone had tripped and fallen down the winding case. He swiveled his head around and saw three sets of legs - two sets moving, one set dragging. The voices that he heard next made him shrink back down into the couch.

"...We hafta get Dathan. We can't carry her by ourselves. You can't lift half of your five-pound weight, and I'm no body builder." As if he'd memorized it, James instantly recognized Evans' voice. It was heavy with panic.

"We don't need him," her gothic friend's voice sounded. She didn't seem much calmer than the redhead at the moment.

"Willow, she'll _die_." The pleading in Evans' voice startled James, who remained on the couch, despite his sudden urge to spring out and make his presence known.

"No," goth girl said. "The guy on that couch over there will help us." James stifled a gasp. "Perhaps he'll get his arse up and show himself." Bracing himself, James followed the goth's orders.

"P-Potter," Evans said, gasping. One of her hand flew up to her face, and James' stomach gave an odd little flop when he saw that she wasn't wearing her glasses. She closed her eyes tightly, as if steeling herself, then she and her gothic friend both reached out and grabbed James' arms.

"You've gotta help us," they said, practically dragging him over to another couch.

When they reached their destination, James gasped. Draped over one of the couches was a person- a _girl_ person - who was bleeding profusely from what James guessed were deep cuts on her wrists. Both were covered by what looked like ripped bed sheets, which were stained completely red. "Who the hell -"

"Please, just - just help us get her to the Hospital Wing," Evans said, not looking at him. She was taking deep breaths, as if she was going to cry.

"That wasn't a request," the goth girl said, rushing back to the girl's side and taking her pulse. "We have to hurry, or else..."

Evans took a deep, shuddering breath. James walked over to the couch and, sliding his arms under her knees and just beneath her shoulder blades, lifted the girl up, stumbling a bit. She was heavier than she looked, and the fact that she was dead weight didn't help much either.

Evans and her friend started off in a sprint to the Hospital Wing, James close in tow. The reality of being the only thing between the limp girl in his arms and death hit James full force as they rounded the bend to the hospital, and James quickened his pace.

"Madame Pomfrey!" Evans shrieked when they reached their destination. "Madame Pomfrey, please hurry, we need help!"

"You most certainly do! For God's sake, do you realize your in a hos-" Madame Pomfrey, dressed in a flowered dressing gown, gasped at the girl hanging in James' arms, blood dripping onto the marble floor from her wrists. "Oh my -"

"Madame Pomfrey, please," Evans said, and James noticed that tears were running down her cheeks. She seemed to be purposely not looking at the girl.

"Put her on the bed. Quickly," the nurse said frantically, summoning several potions with her wand. She looked deathly pale.

James didn't need telling twice. Setting her down as gently as possible, he and the two girls watched as Madame Pomfrey emptied several bottles into the girls' mouth. Evans was breathing hard and her friend was covering her mouth with both hands, her eyes closed. Looking over at her, James realized that Evans was staring between the blood on her hands and the girl. Eyes wide, her body heaved forward slightly, as if she was going to be sick. Her friend caught her with both arms, and, using her wand, she sprayed water on both of Evans' hands. Glancing at James, she said, "Lily hates blood."

"Oh my God, oh my God," Evans was whispering, still staring at her hands. "Willow, oh my God, I can feel it _in my_ _skin_." Her eyes landed on James, who saw how bloodshot they were as tears still forced their way out. But worse, worse of all, was the terror he saw behind them. He'd never seen anyone look so completely horrified. It scared him to see Lily Evans, the girl with such a sharp intellect and even sharper wit, look like that.

Madame Pomfrey, who was still forcing the unconscious girl to down potion after potion, glanced over at them. "Who is this?" She demanded.

"Emmica Traversy," the goth girl, Willow, as Evans had called her, answered without hesitation. She seemed to have regained some sort of composure despite the fact that she was shaking.

Madame Pomfrey looked at Willow directly. "And how -"

"She slit her wrists..." Evans answered instead, steadying herself on a wall, still looking as if she was going to throw up. "Oh my God, she slit her wrists." Madame Pomfrey nodded and turned back to the patient.

James stared at the girl. That wasn't - couldn't - be Emmica Traversy, the hottest girl in Gryffindor. _Well, the second hottest_, James thought, throwing a glance back over at Evans, who had slumped back against the wall and was staring at Emmica as if something had just dawned on her. The Emmica Traversy that he knew and had dated in fifth year was conceited, arrogant, bitchy, and the most outgoing person he'd ever met. The girl who was lying in the Hospital Wing at 2:30 in the morning, covered in blood from the cuts on her wrists that she inflicted, was not the Emmica Traversy he knew. He wondered what had pushed her off her pedestal enough to force her to try committing suicide.

"You three should go back to your common room," Madame Pomfrey said suddenly, not looking at them. "It's late, and it's best if you don't see..."

"Please, Madame Pomfrey, there must be something we can -"

"There's nothing you can do," the nurse said angrily. Evans flinched, and Willow put a hand on her shoulder. "If she makes it through the night, she'll live, but I don't even know if she will. There's nothing the three of you can do to help her now."

Evans swallowed hard and nodded, tears flowing again. Willow's hand gripped her shoulder hard, and without a word, they turned and left the Hospital Wing.

With one last look at the Emmica Traversy he'd never known, James turned and left as well.

Lily Evans couldn't believe what had just happened.

Emmica Traversy, the slut of Gryffindor, had tried to commit suicide. And only she, Lily, knew why.

_Tell me Lily, why does 'gravid' sound like 'grave'?_

So Emmica Traversy was pregnant. And by the looks of it, Patrick Greenly, the respected Head Boy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was the father.

It explained why Emmica was stalking Patrick, and why he wanted Lily to get Emmica off his back. A baby was enough to ruin him.

_But what should it matter if it ruins him? If it's his, it shouldn't matter. He should do the right thing by Emmica_, Lily's brain screamed as Willow led her up the stairs to their dorm. Potter was long gone. Then something in her mind surfaced. _But Emmica's not an innocent little girl. Maybe - but she wouldn't - what if it's not his, and Emmica just wants to drag his name through the mud? I...they wouldn't call her Gryffindor's resident slut for no reason, would they?_

When they reached in their dorm, Lily saw the puddles of blood that had seeped from Emmica's wrists and ran to the bathroom, where she became violently sick. After a few minutes of coughing her guts out, she felt a cool, soft hand on her cheek. "Lily, who's the father?"

Lily whipped around and stared wide-eyed at Willow. "I - you- what do you mean?"

"Emmica's pregnant. Who's the father?" Willow responded clearly. Her violet eyes, which were for once actually visible through her mess of bangs, blazed into hers.

"H - how do you know?" Lily stammered. She had woken Willow up after Emmica had fallen unconscious. There was no way she could have heard what Emmica had said...

"I just do, okay?" Willow said, grabbing Lily's shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze. "I know that you've figured out who did that to her. I saw your face when you were slumped on the hospital wall. You know, I _know_ you do, so please tell me."

Lily gazed her friend, breathing hard. "Okay," she said finally, looking away from Willow's eyes. "...It was Patrick Greenly."

"The Head Boy?"

Lily nodded. Willow swore and stood up, holding her hand out to Lily, which she took. Once Lily was on her feet, she looked out the window adjacent to the door frame. The nearly full moon was half hidden by clouds and there were no stars in the black sky. Rain was pounding on the window panes, lightning slashing across the sky. "Why is it so miserable tonight?" She choked out.

Willow sighed, then pulled Lily into a tight hug. "Because someone's crying. She can't open her eyes to see. She's lying in a hospital bed, unconscious because some son of a bitch wouldn't face his demons and take responsibility for his actions."

"But how do we know he's responsible?" Lily whispered, as if afraid Emmica could hear her.

Willow sighed again and loosened her grip on Lily. "We don't. The only way to find out is to talk to Emmica, and because of that..._idiot_, she might not be here to ask."

Lily looked at the ground as tears flooded her emerald orbs. "I...she won't...really die...will she?"

Willow didn't reply. She just hugged her tighter, and Lily remembered for a moment that they both had demons too. And this one would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Lily put a hand to her face to dry her tears and noticed for the first time that night that she didn't have her glasses on. She gasped and pulled away sharply from Willow, her hand covering her mouth.

"What is it, Lily?" Willow asked in a concerned tone.

"I - please don't tell me I haven't been without my glasses this entire evening," Lily said, her eyes searching Willow's, who bit her lip.

"I assumed it was more important to get Emmica to the Hospital Wing than to keep your secret safe," She said quietly.

"Willow," Lily gasped out. "Potter was there the whole time. The boy I needed to not see more than anyone...oh my God," Lily said, her hand grabbing at both sides of her face as she turned her back toward Willow.

"Lily, it's not as bad as you think-"

"_Not as bad as I think_?" Lily said, almost shrieking. She was crying once again. "For seven years I've hidden this! _Seven years_! And now the most popular boy in the school knows! Do you have _any_ idea how fast word gonna spread now? I don't want it to happen again! I won't be able to stand it if it did! I couldn't handle it the last time it happened, and I sure as hell won't be able to stand it again!" Lily sobbed, staring at the floor.

"It won't happen again," Willow said taking Lily's arms and shaking her slightly. "Dathan and I won't let it happen again."

"My father said he would never let it happen to begin with, and look what became of _that_," Lily replied in a whisper.

"Lily, I promise you, it won't happen," Willow said, engulfing her in a tight hug.

Lily stood there, wrapped in her best friend's arms, staring at the ceiling. In an almost inaudible voice, she said, "I understand why Emmica slit her wrists. Beauty kills."

James Potter was once again lying in his bed, still unable to sleep.

This time, though, his mind was drifting to the unconscious Emmica currently residing in the Hospital Wing. He still hadn't come to grips with what he'd seen.

There was nothing that he knew of that could send a girl off the edge like that, but that was only due to his lack of knowledge on the subject of suicidal girls. But in the one date that he'd went on with her, she didn't seem suicidal. She'd flirted with him, laughed at his stupid jokes, and that had been that. He pictured that afternoon in his head, trying to remember any signs or clues that he'd missed.

Thinking hard, James realized something. If all girls were like Emmica Traversy, Evans and her friend Willow, then he was utterly clueless about the entire female population.

* * *

A/N: -Sighs- Like I said, depressing chapter, huh? 

Well, please review! (The 223 of you who didn't are getting close to my bad side.)

Hugs and fuzzles

M360


	6. Waking Up

A/N: -Hums the Happy Birthday song- Yup, my b-day's come and gone. I'm 16 now! I got the GoF soundtrack! I love songs 19-22! Yay! 

I was reading a fic a while ago, and it had some really cool song lyrics in it, and this part really inspired me:

For those who have been wounded  
Where love has missed its mark  
Bow your head and say a prayer  
Tonight for Romeo's heart

I should send you fields of roses  
Say I'll always wish you well  
But I had cast you as my Juliet  
And you have cast me into hell

There's no hero in this story  
And the ending is so sad  
In the ruins of my dreams we lie  
I would kill to win you back

I thought it was pretty, I don't know about you...

Thanks to Briee, Zemmie, LilJester, Daisy Pixie, rubberband11, Taylor, Akt5us, goodie2shoes19, becks, -Scp-, Mahazzy, Saigo no Megami, amanda,morgim1103, Ulitheal, Prongs76, dreaming-angel92, Rapsodia, and JazzyFairy for reviewing! As for the other 203 people who _didn't_ review, ugh. That's all I gotta say.

Well, on with chapter 6!

Disclaimer: YES, I DO OWN HP AND CO.! ...Oh, who am I kidding?

* * *

Lily Evans was thoroughly exhausted.

Sitting on a window-ledge seat in the Gryffindor common room, she leaned her forehead against the cool glass, watching as snow fell silently down to the bleak grounds below. The rain from the previous night had melted the layers of the brilliant-white flakes, leaving the grounds in a horribly depressing state. They mirrored the redhead's present mood perfectly.

Lily hadn't slept well in the past two days, ever since...well, ever since that night. She had spent almost all of her free time in the Hospital Wing, just to make sure Emmica was still alive, afraid that if she wasn't, it would be her fault.

After Lily had passed out in the Hospital Wing that morning, Willow had dragged Lily away from the Emmica's side, claiming that she was fine, as Madame Pomfrey had attempted to assure her, and that Lily's sitting there and not getting any sleep wasn't going to help anyone.

But Willow didn't know that Lily couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, visions of Emmica lying in a pool of blood would float through her head, her voice echoing through her mind. Then it would change, and Lily would see _his_ face, one she hadn't seen in five years, see Emmica's body lying there, but then it would change and it wasn't Emmica. It was Lily, but different, much, much younger.

She couldn't sleep. That was all there was too it. Lily could not see his face, not after she'd tried so hard to forget...

"...Lily...LILY!" A voice yelled, almost directly into Lily ear. She started and whipped her head around, finding herself face-to-face with Patrick Greenly.

"Hello, Patrick," Lily said wearily.

Greenly seemed not to notice her gloomy greeting. "I wanted to thank you for talking to Emmica Traversy for me. She hasn't spoken to me since!" He reached out and gave Lily a one-armed hug.

Lily quickly shrugged him off. "I didn't say anything to Emmica. She's been in the Hospital Wing since Saturday," she said, her voice taking on an icy tone as she remembered that it was very likely his fault Emmica was there in the first place.

Greenly's grin slid off his face. "Oh, well then, I - you _are_ still going to talk to her, right?"

"Whatever you say," Lily said, turning her back on him as she continued to gaze out the window. Her glasses slid down her nose a bit as her forehead resumed its former position and she quickly pushed them up. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the thick glass. Sighing, Lily took off her spectacles and rubbed her eyes. She hated her glasses, but she knew she couldn't survive without them.

"Lily," Willow's calm voice said from somewhere to Lily's right.

"What?" Lily asked, groaning as she moved her head to look blearily at her friend.

"I think we should go down to the Hospital Wing," Willow replied monotonously.

"I thought you said it was a waste of time," Lily accused, but stood anyway.

Willow gazed seriously at Lily. "I'm pretty sure Emmica's waking up."

Lily's eyes widened. "How would _you_ know?"

"I just _do_," Willow said, sighing. "But look, unless we go now -"

Willow didn't need to finish her sentence, for Lily had grabbed her arm and practically dragged her out of the common room.

As the two were walking, Lily glanced sideways at Willow and said in a quiet voice, "So, are we going to, you know, ask if - I mean - whose it is?"

Willow shrugged. "I think the most important thing is asking Emmica if she's okay. _Then_ we can ask about the father."

"Ah, so we want to be subtle," Lily said, looking at her black-clad friend.

"That's the plan," Willow replied, still looking straight ahead.

"Right." Lily took a breath as the two of them walked into the Hospital Wing. Emmica was indeed stirring, but by the looks of it, she wasn't really alive yet.

"Hello, Emmica," Lily practically whispered, sitting in a chair near the wall as Willow simply sat on the edge of the bed.

Emmica turned her tired-looking eyes to Lily. "Hello," she said, looking down quickly at her bed sheets.

"Are you feeling well?" Willow asked, a hint of a frown on her face.

"I - yes, I'm fine," Emmica replied, sitting up a bit. She rubbed at her eyes for a moment. "I look awful, don't I?" She asked with a shaky laugh, tugging at her unwashed hair. "Bet my roots are showing and everything."

Confused, Lily glanced at the part in Emmica's black locks, where she was surprised to see a thin line of dirty blonde hair sprouting. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "You dye your hair?"

Looking over at Lily, Emmica gave her a sad smile. "I've dyed my hair since I was seven years old. My step mother didn't want me to look too much like her, in case I was mistaken for her daughter."

Lily and Willow exchanged glances. "Oh," was all Lily managed to say. It seemed that even after living in the same room with Emmica for almost six years, they still knew next to nothing about her.

Emmica was looking down at her hands. "I - I'm sorry if I scared you," she whispered. "I didn't mean to cause you any trouble."

"Don't worry about it," Lily and Willow replied together quickly.

Emmica gave them a feeble smile. "I was just...really, really scared. I - I didn't know what else to do." Her eyes were welling with tears as she spoke.

"It's okay," Lily said in what she hoped was a reassuring voice. A lump had formed in her throat for reasons unknown to Lily, and she fought vigorously to push it down.

Emmica just shook her head, her eyes closed against her tears. "He...he said he didn't want me. He...thought I was lying."

"Emmica," Willow said, her violet orbs staring hard at the bed-ridden girl from behind her curtain of dark hair. "Is Patrick Greenly the father?" Lily gave Willow a frown that said, 'I thought you said we were going to be subtle?'

Emmica looked up carefully and stared at Willow with her tear-filled eyes. Then, looking down again, she slowly nodded.

"Are you sure?" Willow asked very seriously.

"Well, unless it's Immaculate Conception..." Emmica replied, playing with her hands.

"But," Lily said, gazing intently at the bed-ridden girl. "But...what about those rumors, then?"

Emmica's dark eyes came to rest on Lily, but they didn't look harsh or angry. They just looked tired and very sad. "That rumor was made up by Patrick after we broke up in fourth year. We were together on and off, so no one ever corrected them. And now it looks as if it's all working out to his advantage to have them around," she said as tears slid silently down her face. "Because everyone thinks I'm a slut and that I'm lying when I say that the Head Boy got my pregnant." She looked down at her sheets again. "They'll think I'm just trying to get the attention."

"Shit," Lily swore under her breath, causing Emmica to look up. "I - is something wrong?"

Lily narrowed her eyes at her own stupidity. "I...that night, Greenly asked me to do him a favor," she said carefully, hoping not to make it sound like she was a slut herself.

"...And?" Willow asked quietly.

"He wanted me to - to tell you," she looked up at Emmica, "To stay away from him. At the time, I had no idea what was going on between you and...I was stupid and listened to the rumors. I told him I would." Lily finished, feeling as if she'd sold her soul to the devil. "I feel so awful, please believe me, I had no idea he was so horrible. But...he thinks I'm going to still tell you." Lily looked up into Emmica's eyes, which were streaming heavily. "But he's the biggest bastard I've ever met, if he won't take responsibility for what he did, I swear, I'll kill him."

Emmica smiled a very small smile. "Thank you," she said, turning her attention back to her blankets. "Thank you for telling me this."

"You're welcome," Lily said awkwardly, feeling that she was getting off way to easily.

"I, um...what - what happened?" Emmica asked quietly, still not looking at either of the girls. "...How did I get here?"

"Well," Lily began slowly, "You passed out and we carried you here."

"By yourselves?" Emmica asked, looking doubtfully up at Lily and Willow.

"Well, er, no," Lily replied, twisting a loose strand of her red locks around her finger.

Glancing at Lily, Willow said, "When we were carrying you down the stairs, we found James Potter in the common room and he helped us. You've been here for the past two days."

"J - James Potter?" Emmica asked, her eyes widening. "He- oh God, he saw me?"

"We thought you staying alive was more important that your appearance at the time," Lily whispered. She hadn't actually seen Potter since that night, and she was incredibly keen not to. It had struck her as odd that he didn't seem surprised by what she looked like without glasses, but rather he'd acted like he'd known all along. _But that's not possible_, Lily concluded silently. _There's no way he could have known. There's no way. _Shaking herself out of herself pity, Lily looked back at Emmica.

Willow put a hand on Emmica's shoulder. "He was really concerned about you. I don't think he'll judge you on it."

Emmica look very doubtful. "If he told anyone..."

"He didn't," Lily assured her. "It would have been all over the school, and there hasn't been a whisper about you. Only Willow, Potter, Madam Pomfrey and I know. But," she added, looking up at Emmica, "We didn't tell him that you're...well, pregnant. He just thinks you tried committing suicide."

"Thank you," Emmica said, once again staring down at her bed covers."...Does Madam Pomfrey know?"

Lily and Willow exchanged glances. "We thought it was important to tell her, in case it would affect your recovery," Lily replied quietly.

"She had to give you a blood replenishing potion to keep you alive, but she wouldn't have given you enough if we didn't tell her," Willow added. "She told us that she would tell no one, not even your parents, if you didn't want her to."

Emmica sighed heavily and lay back on her pillow. "I haven't even thought of what my father might say..."

"Don't worry about it for now," Lily said, standing. "I'm sure it'll be okay."

Emmica closed her eyes and laughed hollowly for a moment, then said, "I'm sure it will." Neither Willow nor Lily missed the sarcasm in her voice.

"We'd best be off," Willow said, glancing at the clock on the opposite wall.

"Thanks for coming to see me," Emmica whispered.

"Don't mention it," Lily replied as the two girls turned to go. After they were back in the nearly empty corridor, Lily said to Willow, "Do you _really_ think she'll be okay?"

Willow took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know. Only time will tell."

* * *

James Potter sat anxiously in Transfigurations that afternoon, continuously glancing at the clock.

Over the past few days, James had been worried about Emmica Traversy. Though it was true that the two hadn't dated since fifth year, he felt a weird urge to protect her, almost like an older brother complex.

Sirius, noticing James' jumpiness, glanced over and said, "What's up?"

James shook his head. "Nothing," he replied.

"Don't give me that, you've been acting strange for almost the past week. What's up? Things not going well with that Linda girl?" Sirius asked, a very uncharacteristically serious expression on his face.

"No, things are going fine with Lydia," James said, staring straight ahead as the rest of the Gryffindors and the Slytherins filed into the classroom.

Sirius studied him for a moment. "You really need to get laid, mate."

James looked around at him, a slightly bewildered expression on his face. "...I'm not even gonna ask how you came to that conclusion." He said, turning his attention back to the front of the room. He recognized Evans' braided mane settled in between her goth friend, Willow, and the equally goth guy who shared the Marauderers' dorm, Dathan Brinks or something like that.

Evans had turned to look at the Brinks boy, laughing at something he had possible said. James felt something stir inside his stomach as he saw Evans smile, her eyes closed as she shook her head, sending her wild ropes swinging back and forth. Then her eyes opened and James found himself staring right into them, and her back. Evans quickly looked away, and James was left feeling slightly stupid. That was the fourth time he'd been caught staring at the same bloody girl.

"So...why are you staring at Evans so much?" Sirius' voice asked. Make that the fifth time.

"Er..." James said, glancing wildly around for something to use as an excuse. "Um, well, she has that, uh...study group thing with Moony on Wednesday, and I, um, was wondering how he's gonna explain, missing it."

Peter, who was sitting on Sirius' left, looked curiously up at James. "Why would he miss it?"

Sirius and James exchanged a glance between each other, deciding whether or not to tell their less-than observant friend. "Because he's _going to visit his sick mother_ on Wednesday, which is why he's not here _now_," James finally answered, and annoyed expression on his face.

"Oh," Peter replied, realization dawning on his face. "Oh, right."

Sirius snorted, and James smirked over at him. Peter Pettigrew was definitely not like the other three Marauderers in any way. Where as James, Sirius and Remus were all tall, handsome, popular, clever, and highly sought after, Peter was short, stocky, stupid, and thought of as a misfit among his friends. No one really knew why the others paid him any attention, much less befriend him, but they assumed it was out of pity.

"Settle down, class," Professor McGonagal said as she entered the classroom. James unconsciously noted how Evans hair swished as she turned her head to look at the Professor. She took notes as the Professor spoke, her eyes staring straight ahead. This annoyed James to no extent. Why the hell would anyone _willingly_ take notes?

A ripped piece of parchment slipped under James' line of vision. It read:

_Who knew geeks would be a form of eye candy for James Potter?_

James glared over at Sirius, who was leaning back in his chair, his hands behind his head. He was grinning lazily at James, laughing silently at him. Sirius' longish black hair was falling gracefully into his ice-blue eyes, one of his eyebrows cocked.

"Shut up, Evans is _not_ eye candy," James said in quiet defense.

"Mr. Potter, would you like to share something with the class?" McGonagal said, turning from the chalk board. Okay, so he hadn't been quiet enough.

"Um, no," James replied, sitting up straight in his seat. "Just telling Sirius how great your lecture is."

"Hm," McGonagal said, giving James a skeptical look. "Well, if it's so great, perhaps you could tell me what the lecture is about."

"Er...transfiguring something into a dragon?" James said wildly.

The Professor's lips twitched. "No, Mr. Potter. Perhaps you'd do better to pay attention when I am addressing the class." And with that she turned back to the chalkboard.

James glanced around and saw Evans surveying him from over her glasses. Then her unreadable expression never changing, she turned back to her notes.

The rest of the period passed by uneventfully. As the bell rang, James gathered his belongings and was about to set off with his friends when he saw Evans standing directly in front of him. He blinked at her stupidly.

"May I speak with you?" She asked, then, noticing Sirius and Peter, added, "Alone?"

"Er, fine," James said. "See you guys later," he added to his retreating friends.

"I just wanted you to know," Evans started, causing James to turn back and look at her, "That Emmica is awake in the Hospital Wing. She said thank you for not telling anyone about her being there."

"Um, okay," James said, and, taking that as a dismissal, turned to go.

"Potter," Evans said behind him, and he turned back to face her. "I...just wanted to say thanks for helping us take her there, because if you hadn't..." She didn't finish her sentence, nor did she need to.

"You're welcome," James said automatically, not knowing whether to smile or frown.

Evans turned to leave, then seemed to change her mind and turned back to him. "You know, if you don't take notes, you'll fail your exams. Not that that'd be a _bad_ thing..." She said before walking away and out the classroom door.

James stared dumbfounded at her back for a moment, wondering how she always seemed to best him, and why she did it to begin with. _Well, one thing's for certain_, James thought as he followed Evans trail out of the classroom. _Sirius had no idea how right he was when he said that Evans is eye candy._

* * *

Lily had managed to slip back to the Hospital Wing, wanting to see Emmica again.

When she saw her, Lily asked, "Are you all right, Emmica?"

Glancing up at Lily, Emmica said seriously, "Do me a favor, please. Call me Emmy. Only adults call me by my full first name."

Lily smiled, knowing that she had just come across a new friend, but also knowing that if experiences counted for anything, she was more of an adult than Emmica would ever know.

* * *

A/N: Alright, I'm sorry. I realize that this is a bit of a filler. Bear with me, ok? 

Well, please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	7. Happy Families

A/N: What's up, everyone? Miss me?

I'm sorry for the wait, but I have a good excuse. For those of you who don't know, I've started on another fic called Swept Away: The Life and Time of a Pirate Girl. (Sway, for short.) It's L/J, of course, but now that I have that, here's my update schedule: one chap of Twises, two of Sway, but only because Sway's chapter are shorter. So it may take me a bit longer to update than usual, but please bear with me, ok?

I burned my lip drinking incredibly hot tea. Don't ask me how. It made half of my upper lip go a lovely shade of magenta and several people asked me who'd punched me. (-Laughs- Right, like anyone could punch me and get away with it.) So for three days I looked like a...I don't know what. Fun, huh?

Alright, just a heads up, 'cuz I know you're gonna wonder about it. Lily's not a scared little girl. There's a very fine line before simply fearing and fearing because one doesn't understand. Lily's standing right in the middle of that line. (Ok, I know I lost you, but you'll see.)

Ok, to those of you who only read this because of the Marauderers' parts, I'm sorry, but I must disappoint you again. James' part is short in this one again, but like I said before, Lily's part is more important. So to all of you James/Sirius/Remus/ Peter lovers out there, (Does anyone here honestly _like_ Peter?) I'm sorry, but the Marauderers don't have a huge part in this one.

Once again, I don't like this chapter. I had a horrible case of writers' block at first, so this is the result, I guess. Please read with an open mind, ok?

Thanks to Ulitheal, Akt5us, rubberband11, Mahazzy, Prongs76, Briee, Tayler,DRACOSGiRLxx, persona, sarah is kooky, -Scp-, The all mighty and powerfulM, Sarah-Lily-Potter-Kavanagh, Daisy Pixie, Noelle, Zemmie, morgim110, and iluvsinging333. Love ya' all!

Well, onto chapter seven!

Disclaimer: Honestly, if you don't know by now...

* * *

James Potter was just leaving the Hospital Wing after a short visit with Emmica Traversy.

After asking her how she felt, how things were going (Aside from the fact that she nearly killed herself), and telling her that he'd always be there if she wanted to talk, he left and hurried down the sun-filled corridors. He needed to get back to his dorm, because for the next three days, he and his fellow Marauderers were going with Remus to 'visit his sick mother'.

In reality, what they were doing was far from going to see some elderly woman in a hospital, because the Marauderers had a secret that they couldn't let anyone find out, lest the lose one of their numbers.

For you see, Remus Lupin was a werewolf. And no one, except for James, Sirius, Peter and select members of the Hogwarts staff, knew.

At first, Remus hid his secret from everyone. He'd leave every month, always gone from the school on the day before, during, and after the full moon, always claiming to be seeing his mother, who was ill with some unknown disease. But it didn't take long for a pattern to form, and in their third year, James, Sirius and Peter confronted their friend with the evidence they'd acquired.

Remus had seemed very sad when they told him of what they knew. He'd told them that he understood that they didn't want to be friends with him anymore, and asked them to please keep his secret.

But the others hadn't wanted to abandon him as a friend. Instead, they helped in a way Remus would have never imagined. They illegally became unregistered Animangi - James a stag, Sirius a great black dog, and Peter a rat. The four of them romped around the school grounds at the full moon, having fun while at the same time allowing Remus the joy of knowing that not everyone hated him for being something he couldn't help.

They had also come up with nicknames for themselves; James was Prongs, Sirius Padfoot, Remus Moony, and Peter Wormtail. No one seemed to have guessed what they were up to or why they all seemed to disappear once a month, so the Marauderers looked forward to the full moon as if it was a holiday. And at the moment, James was eager to get to his dorm and his waiting friends.

"Hi, guys," James said, slightly breathless as he entered the sixth-year boys' dorm.

Sirius was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Peter, who seemed to be losing, as one of his eyebrows looked slightly singed. "What took you so long, mate? I didn't know you were so interested in anything Evans had to say. Perhaps you were doing something other than talking...?" Sirius asked, waggling his eyebrows as he collected up the singed cards.

"I was not," James retorted childishly as he began searching for his invisibility cloak. They'd need it to get out of the castle.

"Leave him be, Padfoot," Remus, who was lying with his eyes closed on his bed said.

"Why do ya' care anyways?" Peter asked, rubbing his fingers over his eyebrow.

"I just find it funny that our dear Prongsie is getting it on with a total geek," Sirius replied, shrugging.

"I am _not_ getting _anything_ on with Evans!" James exclaimed loudly, causing Remus to open his eyes.

"Oh really?" Sirius asked innocently. "Well then, let's see." He held up his hand. "You are suddenly _staring_ at her all the time." He counted off on a finger. "You get all red whenever anyone _mentions_ her, and you leave your friends to go spend unguarded _time_ with her. Face it, mate, either you've officially become her stalker, or you've just jumped on the I Love Evans Express."

"Why would I like _her_?" James demanded, his voice raising. "_Look_ at her. She's as big a' geek as they come! Since _when_ have I _ever_ liked nerdy little _bookworms_? As _if_ I'd be so...so..." James searched around for a word to name the affliction that he might possibly be suffering from.

"So...what?" Remus asked, sitting up. A frown was glued to his pale face.

"...I don't _know_," James replied, angrily running his hand through his already unruly hair.

"Lily Evans is really nice and very cool to be around," Remus said in Lily's defense. "To think that the only reason you _don't_ like her is because she wears glasses and likes to read makes you look like a horribly shallow _git_."

James snarled slightly and looked down at the ground, his hand still in his hair. Remus had a very annoying knack of making everything James said and did seem like a bad thing. "Fine," he said stubbornly, though sighing in defeat. "Fine..."

Remus lay back down on his bed, his eyes closed once again. The days before the full moon were always difficult for him.

"So..." Sirius said, looking between James and Remus. "Shall we get going then?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Peter said, grinning up at Sirius, who was still looking between his formerly feuding friends.

"Once James admits that he's a horribly shallow git, I'll go." Remus said, not opening his eyes.

Sirius and Peter looked at their messy-hair friend. "Jaaaaaaaaaames?" Sirius said, moving closer to James so that their faces were very close together.

James looked away from Sirius, then, greatly annoyed, said, "I'm a shallow git."

"I'm a _horribly_ shallow git," Remus corrected, still not getting up from his bed.

"I'm a horribly shallow git," James repeated, a bit louder.

"That's all I needed," Remus said, standing up from his bed and stretching. "Shall we go then?"

"Yup!" Sirius said, linking his arm with James. "Won't we have fun, my dear Prongsie?"

"Sirius, you're scaring me," James replied, trying to shake his insane friend off.

"At least it pays the rent!" Sirius said in a singsong voice, letting go of James and twirling around the room.

"We don't _pay_ rent, Sirius," Remus said, crossing his arms and smiling.

Sirius stopped spinning and pouted. "You guys spoil all my fun."

"That's what we're here for, Pad," James said, grinning.

"Hey guys, can we get going?" Peter asked, slightly impatiently.

James rolled his eyes at their short friend. "Keep your pants on, Wormtail."

* * *

Lily Evans was worried about Remus Lupin.

He hadn't showed up to their study session, and he had never missed one before. Ever.

Lily knew after the first half hour that he wasn't going to show up, but still she stayed there, sitting at their usual corner table in the library, waiting for Remus to come.

_How bloody pathetic am I?_ She wondered silently, glancing at the clock suspended on the wall across from her. It was 8:47. _If he hasn't come by now, he's not coming at all_, Lily told herself. She sighed, gathered up her books and exited the library.

_This doesn't make any sense_, Lily thought as she headed back to the Gryffindor common room._ We **always** study together on Wednesday evenings at 6:30, so he couldn't've forgotten. And he would have told me if he couldn't make it. I **know** he would. But_ _then why...?_

Lily stopped and glanced out the window opposite of her in the corridor. The full moon was casting a shimmery silver light over the Hogwarts grounds - a very pretty sight. Lily set her books down on the window ledge and placed her elbows on the space next to them. She rested her chin on her palms and cupped her cheeks with her cool hands.

_Apparently, I don't mean as much to Remus as I thought..._ Lily leaned her forehead against the cold glass panes and stared out at the grounds. _I mean, he didn't even warn me that he wasn't gonna show up. He could have at least **said** something. God, I'm such an idiot to think he even though of me as a friend. Honestly, Remus Lupin? How could I even imagine us being like siblings, much less going out? I mean he's so handsome and smart and kind and - huh?_ Lily's mental ranting was cut off suddenly when she saw movement at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

As Lily watched, three figures emerged from the dark tangle of trees - three _big_ figures. But they didn't look like humans. No, they were definitely animals, but were there any animals that stood up on their hind legs, flanked by two animals of different breeds? For the other two were both on four legs and different heights from each other, much less the other of the three.

The one on it's hind legs seemed to be struggling against the other two, as if trying to escape their company, but the two kept pushing him back towards the forest. Lily stared at them as the drew further from the school. Then right before they fell to the shelter of the trees, the animal on its hind legs lifted its head to the silvery, round moon and let out a loud, long howl.

Lily gasped and leapt back from the window instantly, out of both shock and fear. It was a _werewolf_.

Lily took a deep breath and calmed herself. She was safe inside Hogwarts. Nothing could touch her at school. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them and looked out at the grounds. The animals were gone. _I probably just imagined the whole thing. I just need to go to bed..._

Lily rubbed her eyes beneath her glasses and checked her watch. It was9:07. _Damn_, Lily thought picking up her books quietly, so as not to draw attention to the fact that she was out after curfew. She sprinted silently to the portrait of the Fat Lady and gasped out the password.

"Cutting it a little close to curfew, aren't you young lady?" The Fat Lady remarked, eyeing the redhead. Lily nodded meekly and crawled through the portrait hole, her eyes adjusting to the warmth that suddenly overtook her. She quickly scanned the common room, searching for a sign of Remus or even his friends, but none were there. Lily frowned slightly, then headed up the girls' staircase.

When Lily opened the door to her room, she was met by the sight of Emmica - Emmy - Traversy sitting on her bed, reading a red hardcover book. At the sight of Lily, Emmy sat up and, setting her book down, smiled. "Hey, Lily."

"Emmy, you're out of the Hospital Wing?" Lily asked, putting her own books on her nightstand and sitting down on her bed.

"Well, obviously," Willow said, startling Lily slightly with her monotonous voice. She too was lying on her bed.

"God, Willow, don't do that. You know it creeps me out. So you're feeling well, then?" Lily asked, turning back to Emmy.

"Mm-hm," was the reply.

"I was thinking, Lily," Willow said, sitting up. "That we could introduce her to Dathan. I think it'd be good for them to meet. "

Lily didn't miss the hint of foreboding in Willow's voice. She gave her a what-are-you-up-to? look before replying, "Um, alright. I mean, since we're friends now, it'd probably be good for you to get to know each other as well."

"My thoughts exactly," Willow said, standing and sharing a meaningful look with Lily.

"So, Dathan's your brother, Willow?" Emmy asked, also standing. She slid a pair of slippers onto her bare feet and looked expectantly at Lily and Willow. "Shall we go, then?" She asked uncertainly.

"To answer your first question, yes, Dathan is my brother," Willow said, leaning onto the baseboard of her bed.

"You'll definitely notice the similarities," Lily said, laughing a bit as Willow raised her eyebrow. "Then, for your second question, yes, we are going, but first, we need you to swear that you will never tell a soul about what we're gonna show you. It's a secret that only Willow, Dathan and I know about."

"I promise I won't tell anyone," Emmy said, raising her right hand in the air as if she were in a Muggle court.

"And promise that you won't take anyone there," Willow said, examining Emmy through her curtain of brown hair.

"I promise."

"Alright then," Lily said, jumping off her bed and walking over to the third tapestry from her previous position. She hesitated for a moment. "You _promise_ not to tell? We could potentially get into trouble for this."

"Cross my heart on penalty of having my eyes gouged out with my wand," Emmy said, a very serious expression on her face.

"Nice," Willow said, her eyes smiling. "Got an imagination, this one has."

Lily let out a breath and pushed the tapestry open and pushed the detached section of the wall away, revealing the staircase. Emmy's eyes widened as she stared at it. "Has this been here the whole time?" She asked, almost breathlessly.

"Yeah," Lily replied quietly.

"Where does it lead?"

"You'll see." Willow turned the handle and proceeded up the stairs, closely followed by Lily and Emmy.

When they emerged in the round room, Emmy full on gasped. "Oh my...when did you find this?" She asked, taking in the sloping ceiling and ornate furniture.

"First day of first year," Willow replied, waving her wand and lighting the extinguished candles. "Wake up, Dathan," she said to the canopy bed.

Lily and Emmy turned to it, and, much to Emmy's surprise and Lily's expectation, saw Dathan sit up in it, grumbling about being woken up at such an ungodly hour.

"Stuff it, Dath, it's 9:30 _pm_. You shouldn't spend all night out if you're gonna crash so early in the evening," Lily reprimanded, shaking her head.

"Oh come on, how could I _not_ stay up all night? You _do_ remember who I room with, don't you?" Dathan said in his defense.

Lily looked at him for a moment, then said, "Why, oh _why_ must you make me picture _that_?"

"Whoa, there, Lils, you of _all_ people should know I don't swing that way," Dathan said, stretching his arms high over his head.

"Dathan, could you get up off your lazy ass and come over here? There's someone we want you to meet," Willow said, interrupting their bickering.

Lily turned to Emmy, who had a strange, dazed look on her face as she watched Dathan stand up and walk over to Willow. "Emmy, this is Dathan. Dathan, this is Emmica Traversy," Lily said.

"Nice to meet you," Emmy said, her former dreamy look gone. She smiled at him in an almost superior way.

"And you," Dathan said, bowing to her. He'd noticed the challenge she'd given him. "Hey, are _you_ the one those rumors - " Willow elbowed Dathan in the stomach, cutting him off.

"So, _this_ is your brother, Willow?" Emmica asked, ignoring Dathan's last comment.

"Although I'd rather not admit it, yes," Willow replied, giving Dathan a disgusted look.

"What? I was just asking a question. And why is she up _here_, anyways?"

Willow let out an exasperated sigh. "Could you explain this one, Lily?"

"Dathan, Emmy's our friend. She's been living in our dorm for the past six years and this room is as much hers as it is ours," Lily said calmly, putting a hand on Emmy's shoulder.

"Fine, but what you're saying is that since there's an entrance to this place from the guys' dorm that this is as much the _Marauderers'_ place too?" Dathan asked, contesting Lily's statement.

"Did I say that?" Lily asked. "If you let the Marauderers in here, you'll never get a good nights sleep again, considering that they'll be doing...whatever it is that they do in your room in here too. Do you really want to walk up here and find something unpleasant going on in the bed you were just in?"

Dathan shuddered. Emmica, who had been staring at Dathan as he was saying all of this, laughed. The other three looked over at her, startled.

"You guys - have no idea how funny you are when you argue, do you?" She gasped out, laughing harder at their bemused expressions. It wasn't long before Lily and Dathan joined in to laughing as well, though they weren't quite sure what was so funny. Willow, who never laughed anyway, just brushed her hair out of her eyes and watched the three of them, an unnoticed and small smile on her pale face.

"Welcome to the family, Emmy," Lily said, putting an arm around Emmy's shoulders.

"Family?" Willow asked, leaning back against the desk. "Don't you mean nuthouse?"

"There's a difference?" Dathan asked.

Emmica and Lily looked at each other for a moment before replying together, "Nope."

* * *

James Potter was sitting tiredly in Muggle Studies two days later, looking much worse for wear.

He'd of course, been out for the past three days, romping around the school grounds with his friends. And while he was tired, he wouldn't have traded what he'd been out doing with staying inside and doing homework for anything.

After all, when it comes down to it, who do you really have, aside from your friends and relatives? No one, was the answer James had come up with, but to him, there was only one name to call all of the people who cared about him.

Family.

* * *

A/N: Not my best work, huh? 

Well, review anyways!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	8. Beating Feelings

A/N:Yo!

Sorry 'bout the wait, as always. You know, I don't take joy in not updating. I miss my fics. But unfortuneatly, -Tone gets all evil- _some_ _people _like to postpone my writing. -Glares accusingly at mom- Oh well, what can you do?

Does anyone else think that this weather feels not-so Spring-ish? It's cold here. Not like I-need-a-light-jacket cold, but I-can't-feel-my-toes-if-I-go-too-close-to-the-window cold. Yeah. Welcome to Michigan, everyone.

So, I was wondering, if you could have one draft of any HP potion you wanted, what would it be, and what would you use it for? I'd probably get someVeritaserum and feed it to Kevin Roberts, my mortal enemy. Ah, wouldn't it be funny to hear him spew his guts to the entire school? Happy thoughts...

Anyways...thanks to Saigo no Megami, Mahazzy, Rapsodia, Tayler, Ulitheal, Akt5us, Daisy Pixie, rubberband11, French Tears, serindraxx, Prongs76, avalon64, sumdea, Sweet Southerner, and bratty-randa for reviewing! H&F's to all of ya'! To the 224 of you who _didn't_ review, you already know what I'm gonna say. Why read a fic and not comment on it? Who does it help?

Well, onto chapter eight! (My God, chapter eight _already_? Wow...)

Disclaimer: We'd _all_ like to own HP and Co. I mean, who wouldn't want to _OWN_ the Marauderers (Minus Peter)? Could you imagine them as your personal slaves? _Ooooooh_...but the fact is, they're _fictional_, people. Fictional characters owned by JKR. And, news flash, _I'm not JKR_.

* * *

Lily Evans was sitting in the room off the Great Hall, having her senses lectured out of her by Patrick Greenly.

And she wasn't the only one. All of the Prefects had been called down on a perfectly beautiful afternoon to attend a meeting of 'dire importance'. Lily let out a snort that she cleverly disguised as a sneeze. Oh yes, the fact that there was a _slight_ mishap in the Prefects' bathroom was a matter of _dire_ importance.

"-We can't let people think that we're sloppy!" Greenly ranted, throwing his arms out to make his point to his less-than-attentive audience. "If someone other than ourselves go into the Prefects' bathroom and see that the towels are all askew and that Moaning Myrtle is floating unchecked in the toilet stalls, we'll be in a bad spot! We're Prefects, for God's sake, and we're supposed to be role models for the other students! Why, if I-"

"Patrick, it's not our _job_ to clean up the bathroom. If you're gonna lecture someone, lecture the house-elves. _They're_ the one's who've been neglecting their duties," Lyra Octant, a sixth-year Ravenclaw Prefect said, interrupting Greenly's speech.

"Yeah," Nessie Parker, a fifth-year Hufflepuff Prefect agreed. "And it's not _our_ fault if Moaning Myrtle decides that she likes living our toilets as opposed to the ones in the girls' lavatory. We're _not_ at liberty to kick her out."

"And who else is gonna come in our bathroom aside from us? I mean, there may be a _few_ of us who tell our friends the password on occasion, but it's not like they _care_ what the towels look like," Chris Pearson, a seventh-year Ravenclaw Prefect pointed out.

The humor of it all had not been wasted on Lily. On the contrary, she was busying herself by picturing Greenly demanding the house-elves to do a better job of cleaning their bathroom. Greenly was a bigger idiot than she thought, thinking that he'd get away with grabbing up all the Prefects and making them sit in the a crowded room on the first nice day of the year.

Greenly looked around at the group as if they had completely missed the point. "But look at it this way, if we don't -"

"Give it a rest, Patrick," Sinéad McMahon, the Head Girl from Ravenclaw said, her head in her hands. "Let's just move on. Everyone's falling asleep as it is." She gestured towards the Gryffindor Prefects, where three people had their eyes were closed, their heads lolling.

Lily glanced to her right and was very surprised to find Remus Lupin asleep next to her. He was usually more attentive than even _she_ was during Prefect meetings.

"Remus," she hissed quietly, poking him in the ribs.

Remus' eyes flew open and he sat up straight. He blinked a few times and then looked over at Lily. "Please don't tell me I fell asleep," he muttered, crossing his arms. Greenly glared at him and the other Prefects who had found his raves less-than riveting.

"Remus, are you alright?" Lily whispered as Greenly huffed in defeat, a concerned expression on her face. "You've been acting really exhausted ever since you came back from...where ever it is you were."

"I'm fine," Remus replied, almost harshly. Lily blinked and sat back in her seat, confusion coming over her bespectacled face.

Sinéad had taken Greenly's place in the center of attention. "So anyways, here's the itinerary for the next three weeks," she said, looking down at the paper in front of her. "Next weekend, we've got a Quidditch game - Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff." She paused to let the cheers from both sides of the room die down. "Then we've got another meeting two weeks from Thursday, the ninth of April. Is that it, Patrick?"

Greenly mumbled something along the lines of, "No, but go ahead and dismiss everyone anyways."

Sinéad took that as a yes. "Well, you're all free to go, then," she said, waving her hand towards the door.

The Prefects all stood and headed out of the room they'd been confined in for the last half hour. Lily was about to follow them when Greenly said, "Lily, wait a moment, I want to talk to you."

Turning around, Lily said, "What?" She wasn't feeling all too polite at the minute.

"Yesterday, Emmica Traversy came up to me and wouldn't leave me alone. I thought you said you'd _talk_ to her."

"I _did_ talk to her," Lily countered, crossing her arms.

"And what did you say?"

"That you didn't want her following you around anymore."

"And what did she do?"

"Told me _you_ got her pregnant."

Greenly froze. Sinéad, who was sorting papers in the back of the room, looked up at Lily surprised.

"That little lying _slut_!" Greenly hissed. "Lily, _trust_ me, I did _not_ get her...it wasn't me. I mean, come _on_, do you _honestly_ trust her?"

"Yes, I do," Lily replied calmly.

"Lily, the girl's a total whore! It _wouldn't_ be hard for a random guy to knock her up. I mean, look at all the guys she's slept with!"

"According to Emmy," Lily said stonily, hating the boy standing before her. "_You're_ the only one she's _ever_ been with."

"You _believed_ that? Honestly, Lily, she's -"

"She _also_ said," Lily pressed on loudly over Greenly. "That _you_ started that rumor after the two of you broke up. And since you guys were on-and-off for a long time, you never bothered to correct it. And now that she needs you to do right by _her_, you're using the rumor to your advantage."

Greenly stared at Lily, mouthing wordlessly. Sinéad had come to stand a few feet away from the two, looking back and forth between them as if at a tennis match, her glaring eyes finally coming to rest on Greenly.

The Head Boy composed himself and chuckled. "Wow, Lily, I guess I thought you were _smarter_ than this. Who'd've guessed that you'd come to the rescue of a slutty _bitch_ who just wants attention?"

Lily snapped. Before she had time to think about what she was doing, she launched herself at Greenly, using her full weight to knock him over and tackle him to the ground. Then she sunk her fist full-force into his shocked face.

"_Lily_!" Sinéad gasped, backing up in surprise.

But Lily wasn't listening. She had too much loathing stored up that she had to get out. As she sent another punch into Greenly's mouth, she yelled, "That's _right,_ you lying _bastard_, I'm coming to Emmy's rescue, because apparently _you're_ not enough of a _man_ to do it yourself! You're just gonna go off and sleep with another girl, then, after you dump her on her ass? Huh? _ARE_ YOU?"

Lily hit Greenly straight in the nose, feeling a sick satisfaction at hearing the _crunch _of his nose breaking. "I hope you've learned your lesson," she said, climbing off of him and staring down at his crumpled form. "Because if you so much as _think_ of calling her a slut again, you get it even worse. _Got that_?"

Greenly sat up gingerly, his hand covering his heavily bleeding nose. He nodded and grunted, his eyes streaming.

"Good," Lily replied coldly. Then, turning to the Head Girl, she said, "I'm sorry you had to see that, and I know that I'm probably gonna be kick out of Prefect status for it, but -"

"Why would you be kicked out of being a Prefect? You stood up for your friend. Anyways, this bastard's," Sinéad jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Greenly, who winced, "Had it coming for _years_. I'd have kicked you off for _not_ standing up to him."

"But the teachers aren't gonna see it that way. I just beat up the _Head Boy_, Sinéad. They're _gonna_ find out," Lily replied, the full weight of what she'd done slowly dawning on her

"Who's gonna tell 'em?" Sinéad asked. "_He_ sure won't. D'you think he'd ever admit to _anyone_ that a sixth-year beat him up, much less a _girl_? And it's not like _I'd_ tell."

"Thanks, Sinéad," Lily said, smiling. "I owe you."

"Think nothing of it," the Head Girl said, waving it away. "Now you'd better get out of here before anyone _else_ shows up. I'll take care of _him_." She cast a nasty look over at Greenly.

Lily turned to go, then stopped at the door and said, "You won't tell about Emmica, will you?"

"My lips are sealed," was the reply.

"Thanks," Lily repeated, smiling. "And good luck in Quidditch next week."

"Thanks, now get going."

Lily turned again and walked quickly from the room, knowing that she'd at least paid her debt to Emmy. And what a good feeling it was.

The good feeling went away as her knuckle began to throb. "Ow..." She held it up and saw many shiny red cuts glistening up and down her fingers, not really sure if the blood was hers or Greenly's. Smashing people's noses hurt.

Not paying attention to where she was going, Lily walked into something solid. Looking up, she saw that it was Remus, who was looking between her, her bleeding knuckle, and the room she had just left, where Greenly was moaning loudly. It sounded as if Sinéad was kicking him.

"Um..." Lily said, not really knowing what to do, and very nervous that Remus had heard all about Emmy.

"I'm not even gonna ask," Remus said, shaking his head and walking in the other direction, Lily following in his wake.

* * *

James Potter was walking down the congested corridor with his fellow Marauderers a few hours later. 

"So let me get this straight," He said, looking at Remus as they navigated through the crowd. "Evans got all pissed at Greenly for something and _punched_ him?"

"Well, _tackled_ him's more like it," Remus replied. "I have _no_ idea what they were talking about, but I was heading back to apologize to Lily about being rude to her and I just heard her screaming and what I _think_ was Greenly's nose breaking."

"Ouch," Peter said, a hand flying up to his own nose.

"Well, who'd've thought little Lily Evans could beat up the Head Boy? _Shit_, Prongs," Sirius said, looking over Peter's head at James. "Your girlfriend's got a temper."

"That she does," James said absentmindedly. Then he seemed to grasp reality. "Wait a second, who said she was my _girlfriend_?"

"You did, just now," Sirius replied, grinning at James.

"Evans is _not_ my girlfriend," James said loudly, catching the attention of a few people scurrying around them. "I don't even _like_ her."

"Have you _ever_ actually _liked_ any of your girlfriends?" Remus asked, his eyebrow raised.

"That's completely besides the point," James countered. He turned back to Sirius. "Why would you even _think_ she's my girlfriend?"

"Oh, I dunno," Sirius said, a mock-confused look coming over his handsome face. "Maybe because you constantly _stare_ at her, you get all _flustered_ when you talk to her, and your face _always_ gets all red when someone talks about her in front of you."

"Wow, it seems like I've _heard_ this before," Remus said, a mock look of confusion coming over his face. "Oh yeah, that's right, you guys had exactly the same conversation _yesterday_."

"Alright, then," Sirius said. "Add can't stop talking about her to the list."

James stared at Sirius as the four of them reached the Charms classroom. "Okay, first off, I do _not _constantly stare at her."

"Liar," Remus accused.

Ignoring him, James pressed on. "Second, I don't talk to her to _begin_ with."

"Oh, so your relationship's more _physical_, then?" Sirius asked with a wicked grin.

"_No_," James said, gritting his teeth. "I _meant_ that I never _talk_ to her. We just have screaming matches. And third, I do _not_ blush when people talk about her in front of me."

"Then why are you blushing now?" Peter asked innocently.

James glared at him. "You're _not_ helping." Turning back to Sirius, he said, "She's _not_ my girlfriend. I don't even _like_ her. Hell, I _hate_ her."

"But you're not denying the 'can't stop talking about her' part?"

"_I'm_ not talking about her, _you_ are!"

"James likes Eeevvvaaannnsss," Sirius said in a singsong voice as he set his books down at his usual seat.

"I see you've lowered your standards, Potter. Falling for a _Mudblood_, are we?" A cold voice behind the Marauderers asked. All four boys spun around to face the culprit.

"Snape," James spat, glaring at Severus Snape, a Slytherin with greasy black hair, shallow skin and a hook nose who James just happened to hate above all else.

"Potter," Snape replied in an equally nasty tone. "So, who'd've guessed that you'd fall for a hot-tempered Mudblood _bookworm_?"

James snarled at him. "Go fuck yourself, _Snivellus_."

"Better me than a _Mudblood_," countered Snape.

Sirius, Remus and Peter had to hold James back as he tried to rush forward with every intention of beheading Snape with his bare hands. He didn't understand why he cared so much what Snape said about Evans, but whatever the reason, it made his very blood boil.

Snape laughed coldly as he watched James struggle against his friends. "My, my, so it's _true_ then? Pity you had to pick the only Mudblood actually _worth_ fucking."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Remus asked, a murderous look coming over his face.

"Well, _you're_ her friend, Lupin, so you should know how big of a _slut_ she is."

The hands holding James back slackened as Remus shot past him, eager to wipe the smirk off Snape's oily face. James ran up to join him, happy to have a reason to finally beat Snape's face to a pulp, even if he wasn't sure what the reason was now.

"_STOP_!" Shrieked a voice, and before either James or Remus could reach Snape, none other than Evans was standing between them and their target.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" Evans thundered. "Remus, my _God_, you're a _Prefect_! You should _know_ better than this! And _you_," she said, rounding on James, "Don't even get me _started_ on you, Potter. What the _hell_ did he _ever_ do to you?"

"You - you didn't hear what he was saying," James said in defense, anger surfacing. What right did Evans have to stop him from protecting her name?

"Who _cares_ what he was saying? You _can't_ just beat people up because you _want_ to!"

"Oh, you mean like how _you_ beat up the _Head Boy_?" James said without thinking, his temper taking over.

Evans backed up a step, then looked at Remus, wide-eyed. "That is irrelevant to this. I was protecting someone else's name -"

"Well, did you ever think that that's what_ we_ were doing?" James plowed on, the filter between his brain and his mouth not working. "That maybe it was _you_ we were defending?"

That stopped Evans right in her track. She looked as if she'd been slapped. "_What_?"

"You heard me," James said, very aware of the blush coming up his face. His eyes were fixed on the floor.

"What did he say?" Evans demanded, looking at Remus, not James.

"He said in less polite terms that you slept around," Remus replied, also blushing now.

Evans spun around, her braids flying, and smacked Snape so hard across the face that he staggered into the table next to him, clutching his reddened face. "I do _not_ sleep around," she said, her voice so icy that James himself winced. And without even looking at Remus or James, she turned and headed back down to her seat.

Sirius let out a low whistle as all four Marauderers turned to watch her as she sat down. "God, James, you sure know how to pick 'em."

And for the first time, James said nothing in his own defense, but instead gazed down at Evans, the strangest thoughts running through his head.

_I **can't **like Evans...**could** I?_

* * *

Lily had just rushed out of the class, through the corridors, and into the Gryffindor common room, careful to avoid eye contact with anyone._ Who would think that I sleep around? I look ugly...**don't **I? _She thought as she practically ran up the girls' staircase and up to her room. 

The sight that reached her once she opened her door made her nervous thoughts stop. Emmy was kneeling on the floor, trying to shake what was unmistakably Willow, who was thrashing on the ground and muttering incoherently.

"Lily!" Emmy said, looking up franticly. "I don't know what happened, I just woke up and I saw -"

"It's okay," Lily said, dropping her bag in the doorway and rushing over to Willow's side. "Come on, we need to get her to the Hospital Wing, and fast."

The two girls reached down and hoisted Willow up - after all, she was very light - then rushed down the steps and out the portrait-hole.

"Does this happen a lot?" Emmy asked as they dragged Willow down the corridors.

"Often enough," Lily replied.

Emmy shook her head. "I have a lot to learn still, don't I?"

Lily looked over at her as they approached the Hospital Wing doors. "You have _no_ idea."

* * *

A/N: So, what'cha think? I don't know, I wanted it to feel like we're returning back to normal time, so did it work?

Well, please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	9. Mind Makeovers

A/N: Ok, I know it took me way to long to update, and that you're probably sharpening your pitchforks, but hold off for a bit, 'k? I'm sorry, really.

Due to a complete lack of creative spirit, I've encountered a humongous case of writer's block. So if this sucks...I warned you.

So I took my driving test today, and...I passed! Woot! Now I get to...cart my siblings...around...how fun. That just killed my happiness.

Thanks to Briee, morgim1103, Akt5us, serindraxx, Tayler, Untamed Loner, Zemmie, Rawthorn, rubberband11, Black For President, Saigo no Megami, MsMissProngs, -Scp-, MysterySilk, marauders babe, Prongs76, little kitsune, dreaming-angel92, EternityandBeyond, Daisy Pixie, Lora-Lai, Siruisblack18, Anjali, and Laura for reviewing! You people rock!

Well, onto chapter nine!

Disclaimer: A poem expressing my feelings...

If you people really think

That I own HP

Then you are _truly _on the brink

Of being entirely crazy

* * *

James Potter was sitting alone in the common room, trying to decipher his Charms homework. 

But despite his efforts, his mind kept wandering to a certain fiery redhead who was supposedly his 'girlfriend'.

James knew he didn't like Evans - he _definitely_ didn't like her. But there were some truths, he had to admit, to what Sirius had been accusing him of earlier.

First off, James _had_ been staring at Evans a lot recently, but it was more of him trying to probe into her mind than anything else. He knew that she was purposely hiding her good looks behind a facade of geek-ness. Pretty girls, he had come to learn, know that they're pretty. They may play it off, deny it, act surprised when they get compliments, whatever. But the truth still stood.

So James had come to the conclusion that Evans was aware of her insane beauty and was undeniably hiding it on purpose. The only question was: why?

This was what James kept asking himself as he struggled through his Charms work. After all, James, despite being devilishly handsome, a player and womanizer-extraordinaire, was no more savvy to the workings of the female mind than any other bloke.

And he hated it.

But anyways, even if he was staring at Evans, it was the same as any guy staring at a girl he thought to be astronomically gorgeous. Of course, when it came to the average guy, most of them weren't staring at a girl that only _they_ knew to be hot.

The second thing that Sirius had said, about James getting all flustered whenever he talked to Evans, was most certainly _not_ true. He'd been right when he had said that they never talked. He couldn't remember them ever having a decent conversation, not once.

And even if he _did_ get perturbed when he talked to Evans, it wasn't _his_ fault! From the very first time James'd ever spoken to her, Evans had been giving him what seemed like a bunch of cryptic messages in the form of insults, which was incredible odd, considering hardly anyone, unless you counted Snape and the rest of the Slytherins, _ever_ insulted James Potter.

This of course made him even more confused, because James couldn't remember ever giving Evans reason to hate him in the first place. He was just being himself, all those times he'd had contact with her. He couldn't be nearly as bad a person as she made him out to be...could he?

The third point Sirius had made was that James blushed whenever Evans was mentioned, which was a complete lie. It took a lot to get James to blush, and Evans, no matter what anyone said, was _not_ a lot. Well, not on a day-to-day basis, at least.

Sirius' final accusation was that James talked about Evans nonstop, which was also untrue. He rarely talked about Evans at all unless someone brought up the subject first, but he sure _thought_ about her enough.

It was weird. On one hand, James hated Evans. Her blatant know-it-all attitude annoyed the hell out of him, and he got a strange sense of satisfaction every time he annoyed _her_.

But on the other, he couldn't stop thinking of how alluring she had been that day, when he'd walked in on her in the Prefects' Bathroom. _That_ had been an outing he'd certainly never regretted. The Evans he'd seen then seemed like a completely different person from the one he knew, and _that_ was very odd.

_Sirius is wrong_, James thought, shaking his head. _I don't **like** Evans, I just want to shag her. Badly. _

Not that that was any better.

"Hi James," a silky voice said, startling James out of his less-than-clean thoughts.

"'Lo Lydia," he replied, as his _actual_ girlfriend plopped herself down on the couch next to him.

"Doing homework?" Lydia asked, taking in James' Charms book and the less-than an inch of writing he had on his parchment.

James closed his book. "I'm _supposed_ to be, but I can't really concentrate," he said, massaging his temples.

"Can't concentrate, huh?" Lydia asked coyly, slipping her hand on his knee and letting it slide slowly up his thigh. "Well, how about we go for a walk?"

James flashed a cocky smile and Lydia grinned, obviously not noticing that it was fake. "Sure," he said, standing up. He needed a distraction anyway.

The two walked out of the Gryffindor Tower and towards the grounds. As they exited the castle, a warm breeze forced James to roll up his shirt sleeves and Lydia to undo two buttons on her blouse. (Though that may or may not have been because of the weather.)

Lydia slid her hand into James' and leaned closer to him. "We haven't been spending much time together, have we, James?"

"Hm..." James responded, bored by the conversation already. This was one of the reasons why he avoided relationships - clingy girlfriends. One night stands were definitely more his area of expertise.

"Well, we _haven't_ really, and I was wondering-" _Oh, no_, James thought, _here comes the guilt trip_. "If you've been reading the _Daily Prophet_ lately."

"Huh?" James asked, surprised.

"The _Daily Prophet_. They've been doing all sorts of reports on You-Know-Who. Haven't you been reading them at all?"

"You-Know-Who? You mean Voldemort?" James asked, frowning slightly.

"Ooh, don't say his name," Lydia said with a shiver. "So, have you been reading the_ Daily Prophet_?"

"Um...not recently, no," James replied. He'd been to busy thinking about _other_ things to read the paper.

Lydia laughed. "Honestly, Jamie, what am I going to _do_ with you?" She asked, moving closer and leaning her head on James shoulder. He wished she wouldn't - it made walking very hard. He also wished she wouldn't call him 'Jamie'. It was degrading.

"Why do you ask?" He said, trying to distract Lydia from being too mushy.

"Hm? Oh, yes," she said lifting her head off James' shoulder. "Because You-Know-Who has been attacking a lot of people recently. D' you know, I wouldn't be surprised if he attacked the school soon."

"I don't think he'd be able to get past Dumbledore," James responded wisely, looking off towards the lake. "Only an idiot would try."

"But still, what if he does come here? Oh James, I don't think I'd be able to stand it. Would you help protect me?"

James had no idea how to respond. Okay, so Lydia _was_ a clingy girlfriend. _Very_ clingy.

"Voldemort," James said, causing Lydia to suck in a breath, "Won't be able to get past Dumbledore. You've got nothing to worry about."

"Okay," his girlfriend replied, leaning her head back on James' shoulder. He inwardly groaned.

Lydia had given James something to think about, though. This 'Lord Voldemort' had suddenly emerged from the woodwork a while back and was murdering anyone with less-than pure wizarding blood and all who stood in his way. The man was a crazed maniac, but he had been at it for quite some time, and, if Lydia had any credibility, he was getting stronger.

James shivered inwardly, and, looking across the lake, he saw a group of Slytherins doing whatever it is Slytherins do by a large body of water. They all pretty much agreed with Voldemort's practices, and would most likely jump at the chance to join him.

_Ah, the Slytherin house_, James thought as Lydia steered him around the grounds. _A breeding ground for Death Eaters._

Too right he was. It was this thought that would make James an unwilling insomniac that night.

* * *

Lily Evans was lying on her bed, reading, as Emmy nervously paced around the room. 

"I don't understand how you can just sit here and _read_ while Willow's stuck in the _Hospital Wing_! Aren't you worried about her? I mean, she went into _convulsions_! And that was five _hours_ ago!" Emmica exclaimed, nearing hysteria.

"Em, relax. This is _not_ the first time Willow's been holed up with Madame Pomfrey for a long time. It happens pretty much once a month, sometimes more. If there was something _really_ wrong, Madame Pomfrey would come and get us," Lily replied warily, setting her book aside and sitting up. "Don't worry, Willow will be _fine_."

Emmy sighed and sat down on her own bed, opposite of Lily's. "I don't know how you stand it," she said, looking directly into Lily's bespectacled eyes. "How can you hang around while one of your friends barely shows his face and the other has shaking fits as often as she gets PMS?"

Lily shrugged. " Willow and Dathan have been my best and basically only friends since I was ten. How could I _not_?"

Emmy just looked at her. Lily smiled and stood up. "C'mon, let's go up and visit Dathan. I'm sure he could use the company." She walked over to the third tapestry and looked back expectantly.

"How do you know he's even _up_ there?" Emmica asked skeptically.

"It's just one of those things you have to hang around Dathan and Willow to know. Whenever Willow get herself landed in the Hospital, Dathan always goes up to our room and waits for her. Like he can sense where she is, almost."

"That's creepy," Emmy said, but stood up and walked up towards Lily anyway.

"Yup, that's Willow and Dathan - The Creepy Goth Twins. And, as their friends, we fall into a similar category." The two walked up the stairs and opened the door. As they emerged, they saw Dathan _and_ Willow gazing at the ceiling from their respective seats.

" Willow?" Emmy uttered, clearly surprised their formally bed-ridden friend was able to get upstairs without their knowledge.

"When'd _you_ get here?" Lily asked, one hand on her hip. "Hey Dathan," she said to the bed.

"S'up," the bed replied as Lily sat down on the arm chair.

"I've been here for about ten minutes," Willow commented in her usual flat tone. "I'm guessing you gave Lily grief about her reading while I was in hospital," she said to Emmy, no question in her voice.

Emmy's eyebrows rose. "How did you -"

"Lily is _always_ reading when I come back, she's so used to it, and I figured that you'd be worried, since you basically had a heart attack when I keeled over," Willow replied, studying her black-painted fingernails.

Emmy bristled and said, "Well I was _worried_ about you! I've never had someone randomly fall to the ground and start shaking like that! It _scared_ me!"

Lily took off her glasses and rubbed at her eyes. "Emmy, I told you not to worry, didn't I? She's done this about 200 times since I've known her."

"Really, it's nothing to get worked up over," Willow added, but Emmy wasn't looking at her. She was staring at Lily with wide eyes.

"What?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You - you're - _whoa_," Emmy replied.

"Um, coherently, please," Lily said, eyeing Emmy with a bit of concern.

"She's referring to the fact that your attractiveness level goes up by about a million points when you take off your glasses," Willow replied matter-of-factly.

Lily's eyes widened, then she sighed. "Oh, that."

"Yes, _that_," Emmy said, regaining her voice. "Lily - God, when did you start looking so _hot_?"

"She's _always_ been that hot," Dathan supplied, sitting up off the bed. "Ever since we were little kids."

"_What_?" Emmy said, her head turning to look over at Dathan. "And you let her hide it behind those ugly _glasses_? What kind of friends _are_ you?"

"We were only honoring her wishes. And if you think that's something," Willow said, walking up to Lily and waving her wand. "Look at her _now_."

Emmy looked over and her mouth all but hit the floor. Willow and undone Lily's braids, and her dark red hair was flowing in glossy waves down her back, the sunlight illuminating it.

"Bloody _hell_, Lily," Emmy said, closing her mouth. "You've got to be the most beautiful girl in the entire _school_. I mean, look at your _hair_. It's so _gorgeous_. And your eyes - I know girls who would _kill_ for looks like yours." Lily blushed scarlet as Emmy continued to stare.

"Them and a lot of others," Willow said quietly.

Lily threw her goth friend a sharp look. "I'd appreciate it if you _didn't_ tell anyone about this, Emmica."

"What? But - _why_?"

"Because there's a reason that I don't go parading around my looks," Lily said acidly, crossing her arms and looking at the floor. "And I really don't care to share it at the moment, so please, don't ask."

Emmy looked between Dathan and Willow for some sort of explanation, but neither moved a muscle. Sighing, she said, "Fine. But," She grinned. "Only if you let me give you a makeover."

Lily raised her head and cocked an eyebrow. "A _makeover_? You're kidding, right?"

"Nope." Emmy shook her head solemnly, sending her curls flying. "Either you let me make you over, or the whole school will know that you're beyond bloody gorgeous by tomorrow morning."

Lily narrowed her eyes, sizing Emmy up. "I don't really have a choice," she said finally, slouching back in her chair.

Emmy grinned again. "Well, then, I'll be right back." And with that, she took off down the staircase to the girls' dorm.

"This I've gotta see," Dathan said, resting his head against the wall lazily.

"I agree," Willow added. "Truthfully, though, Emmica wouldn't have told anyone even if you _didn't_ agree to her giving you a makeover," she said to Lily, who scowled.

"Thanks for telling me that _now_," Lily replied as Emmy emerged, holding three of the most recent copies of Witch Weekly. She threw one to Dathan and Willow each, then plopped herself on the floor and started flipping through.

"If you see anything you want me to do with Lily, point it out. I need clothes, makeup, and hair," she said, glancing up at Lily every few seconds.

"Well, first of all, her hair should be like this," Willow said without hesitation, waving her wand in Lily's direction. Lily's hair instantly wound itself tightly onto her head.

Emmy surveyed Willow's work. "Wow...I never knew you had such a knack for hair design."

"I do what I can," Willow replied, returning to her magazine.

A few seconds went by before Emmy said, "Aha!" and pointed her wand directly at Lily's nose, a pale pink light shooting out of the tip. Lily coughed as makeup applied itself to her face with amazing accuracy.

"Okay, you've done my hair and makeup. Now I'm leaving," Lily said standing up and walking to the door.

"Not so fast," Emmy said, and Lily felt herself go rigid as Willow yelled, "Stupefy!"

"Now, you're gonna sit still as we find an outfit for you," Emmy said, returning Lily to her armchair.

"As if she could do anything _other_ than sit still," Willow added, slowly rifling through the pages of her magazine.

"Not to worry, ladies, because I, Dathan Brinks, supreme ruler of the universe, have found..._the outfit_," Dathan said, leaping off the bed with cat-like grace. He brandished the page and swung it in front of Emmy and Willow's face, then proceeded to point his wand at Lily and yell, "Amicio!"

Two things happened simultaneously as the spell cast itself upon Lily. The Stupefy Hex she was under wore of, being the first. The second involved the dress that Lily found herself wearing on account of Dathan's spell.

On the wall across from the bed there was a full-length mirror, which Lily marched up to and promptly froze in front of.

"Holy shit..." she said, accentuation the separate syllables.

'Holy shit' was about all one could say about what Lily looked like. Her dark red hair was pulled back in an elegant French Twist, with several of the shorter tresses in the front and back falling gracefully into Lily's face and onto her shoulders.

Lily's makeup, though definitely there, seemed to accent Lily natural beauty, instead of creating some of its own. Her mascara-covered lashes seemed about five times as long as usual, and her naturally colored eye shadow seemed to make her eyes pop. A creamy pink gloss covered her full lips, and her pale skin looked brighter with the bit of blush on her cheeks.

But what really took the cake was the dress. A dark-nude color and covered in thin, black mesh, the dress came just above Lily's knees, the neckline scoping low on her full chest. The bodice was covered in black lace and accented with a black satin ribbon. The dress clung beautifully to Lily's curves. On her feet was a pair of black Steve Madden high heels with criss-crossing straps at the toe. The four-inch heels lengthened the appearance of Lily's silky smooth, pale legs, and together with the dress, made her look like a cross between a movie star and a goddess.

Lily's mouth opened slightly as her mind blared, _I - I look just like...**her**._

"Wow," Emmy said, as she, Willow and Dathan stared dumbstruck over Lily's shoulder at the reflection in the mirror.

Lily took a breath and said in a pinched voice, "Well, now that we're done, I'll just -"

"Wait, first we've got to find jewelry and a purse and -"

But before Emmy could say anything more, Lily took off running down the stairs, which was a dangerous feat, considering her four-inch heels. The only thing on her mind was getting away from that mirror and from the reflection she had seen, because it wasn't her in that mirror.

It was her mother.

She heard the others following her as she hurtled into the girls' dorm, and without thinking too much about it, Lily continued out into the hallway, every intent of escaping through the common room.

For some reason, she couldn't bear being near her friends. She didn't want to hear them say that she was beautiful. She couldn't hear it. Not again. Not like before...

_It's late, no one will be in the common room_, Lily thought as her heels clicked down the hallway and to the stairs. She should have known, however, not to assume, no matter how desperate she was. After all, the first letters of assume are A-S-S.

* * *

James was sitting in the common room, unable to sleep. 

It was very late, and he was sure that there was no one else awake in the Gryffindor Tower. It was a good thing too, because James wanted - needed -to think.

Lydia, despite her complete denseness, had given James something to ponder. What if Voldemort did attack the castle? What if he, James, was killed? What would he miss the most?

A vision of Evans swam its way into James' brain, despite his efforts to fight it back.

A noise sounded above him, like the sound of a slamming door, followed almost instantly by footsteps thundering down the girls' staircase. He stood, remembering what happened the last time someone had run down those stairs in the middle of the night.

But what greeted him wasn't a girl with blood gushing out her arms, but instead one with violent red hair, eyes so green it was scary and an outfit that made her look as if she had fallen out of one of James' wildest fantasies.

It was Evans, only not the geeky know-it-all one from class.

Beautiful Evans had returned.

* * *

A/N: EEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Yes,that actuallyhappened! 

Well, please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	10. Consuming Truths

A/N: I offically have cronic writer's block. _Please_ forgive me!

Holy crap, this is the _10th_ chapter! Wow! I can't believe I've written so much!

Ok, so if you've read chapter 8 of my other fic, Sway, then you'll probably notice some distinct similarities between that chapter and this one. They're basically the same situation, so don't beat me up for writing practically the same thing twice. Then again, I think you'll find that Twises' Lily has a fairly different reaction than Sway's Lily.

Also, in this chapter, if you notice some fragment sentences, they're there on purpose. I'm trying out a new style of writing. And for Lily's part, James is _supposed_ to seem like a total bastard. No, worse than a bastard. But you really can't blame him. He has no _idea_ how bad things really are. Most of this chappie, as always, is focused on Lily.

Who here's seen Howl's Moving Castle? Oh my God, it was AWESOME! I love anime anyway, but this one's amazing! You should totally see it! (Plus Howl's incredibly hot. He looks like a young Sirius!)

-Gasps- Did anyone go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie? I went the day it came out with my friend for her birthday party. A bunch of us went and dressed up. It was so awesome! But, I dunno, it felt almost like a filler movie...oh well, it was bloody AWESOME! (Yes, my use of adjectives is limited.)

Thanks to Briee, Susie Starbucks, Anjali, serindraxx, rockstar-101, rubberband11, Siruisblack18, Kat and Sirius 4 ever, MysterySilk, jillybean90, THE-GIRL-WHO-CRIED-WOLF, EastCoastHPgrl, Smileymimi, Daisy Pixie, MsMissProngs, Laura, -Scp-, Untamed Loner, Akt5us, Tayler, Prongs76, futurePOTUS, BlueJeanMistress, crownerofkings, Sweettarts, banny, Mahazzy, Arielle, firewalker32, hotblacknesss, Lanetk, liakenzie, SweetPsychotic2358, captian jacks grl, ThePranksterQueens, Zemmie, and RavieGrint. Love to all!

Well, onto chapter 10! (At long last.)

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, but Archie does. So go talk to her if you've got any problems. (Sorry Archie, I had to do it.)

* * *

Lily Evans could do nothing but watch helplessly as James Potter watched her right back. 

She read startled surprise in his gaze as he looked her up and down, but there was also something else. Something that confused Lily as much as it daunted her - recognition.

It was as if he knew who she was without her glasses, braids and overly-modest attire. _But that's impossible!_ Lily's brain screamed at her. _He can't know who I am...unless...unless...No, there's no way!_

It was Potter who broke the weighted silence. "So you _can_ see without your glasses..."

Lily's heart all but stopped. He _knew_.

_Oh God..._She felt her knees struggling not to buckle as she realized the horrid extent of the situation.

She had allowed Emmy to make her over.

She had run from her friends and into the common room after seeing her reflection in the mirror.

James Potter knew her secret.

_James Potter knew her secret._

Lily watched in horror as Potter's eyes moved up her body and stared directly into hers. As hazel met emerald, Lily saw the same expression that she had seen in the eyes of..._that man_. An expression that turned her blood to lead and sent a chill straight up her spine.

_Lust_.

Lily felt her stomach drop and gasped loudly as the information sunk in. She quickly whirled around so her back was to Potter, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Go away!" She shrieked, closing her eyes hard as she felt tears prickling her emerald orbs. "Don't look at me! Go - go away!" Lily's knees buckled and she fell to the scarlet-carpeted floor, her dress flaring out around her legs.

"Just please - go away! _Don't look at me_!"

Lily heard Potter walk up behind her, seemingly struggling for a moment about what to do. Then he kneeled down in front of her, his face level with hers. Tears poured out of Lily's eyes as she opened them and allowed herself to look into Potter's face.

He was to close. _Much_ to close.

"Please, Potter," Lily sobbed, her eyes pleading with him. "For _once_ in your life, just do as you're asked and go away. _Please_."

Potter just stared at her, straight into her eyes. Like he was searching her _soul_.

Lily closed her eyes tightly and stood up, staring straight down at the floor, her hands clutching the sides of her face. She couldn't take the heat of his gaze. "If you tell _anyone_ about this, I'll...I'll..." Her voice shook dangerously. "I'll make it so that you can never look at another girl like you're looking at me with those _horrid_ eyes. I don't know how, but I swear to God will."

"Stop crying."

Surprised, Lily looked at Potter, who had stood up and was no longer looking at her, but instead at the fire in the large fireplace that adorned the front of the room. His hands were clenched into fists in his pockets. "Wha...what?" She asked stupidly, caught off guard by the gentleness in his voice.

"Don't cry anymore. I can't _stand_ it when girls cry," Potter replied, still not looking at the redhead in front of him.

Lily quickly dragged a hand across her cheek, smudging the mascara running down her porcelain skin. "I'll cry as much as I _damn_ well please!" She hissed at him. "Who are you to just barge in and start telling me what to do? You have no _idea_ what's happened, so sod off!"

At this, Potter met Lily's eyes. "Well, _sorry_ for being in the wrong place at the wrong time! It's not like you _own_ the common room! And you can't just _order_ me to leave whenever my presence doesn't _suit_ you!"

Lily took a step back as Potter moved closer, voicing her thoughts as they came to her. "If you had _any _decency at all, you'd know when to just listen to what people say and to heed them," she said venomously, backing into a couch. "But of course, I must be an _idiot_ to believe that _you_, the _famous James Potter_, could possibly have a _shred _of decency in your entire body! _Oh no_, not mister high and mighty! Heaven _forbid_ he ever _actually_ did something _courteous_ or _civil_ or _polite_ to someone as low on the _food chain_ as _Lily Evans_!"

"Oh _yeah_?" Potter said, obviously outraged. "And what about _you_, Evans? You make yourself seem _so bloody tragic_, when really, you're just _pretending_ to be an ugly bookworm who hangs around with freaks all day. How does it _feel_ to have people pity you for how you look when really you're the best looking girl in the whole damn _school_? Does it make you _happy_? People put up with you because they _feel bad for you_, and here you are, _lying_ to _each and every one_ of them! If _you_ had any _decency_, you wouldn't _hide_ behind those stupid glasses. And you think _I'm_ bad? You're the most _selfish_ person I've ever met in my life!"

A loud smack resounded through the common room. Lily's hand stung as she looked up at Potter with absolute loathing in her eyes.

"I don't have to _explain_ myself to you," she said, her voice shaking, tear falling silently down her lovely face. "You're a _fool_ if you think I actually _enjoy_ hiding who I really am. Did you ever stop to consider that there may be a _reason_ that I don't go around flaunting my looks? Unfortunately, _Potter_, not everyone has as great of a life as _you_ do. You would do well to keep that in mind the next time you feel like accusing someone of being selfish."

Lily turned from him with every intention of going back up to her dorm. She'd much rather deal with her friends than be in the same room as that asshole Potter.

But her friends had left the dorm. Instead, Willow and Emmy were standing on the girls' staircase, Dathan a few feet from them on the boys', observing Lily and Potter as they fought.

Dathan was gazing at Lily in an apologetic manner, as if to beg Lily's forgiveness for having such an idiotic roommate.

Emmy was looking nervously between Lily and Potter, her eyes wide with surprise and shock that two people could possibly hate each other so much.

But the expression on Willow's face was the one that confused Lily the most. She was surveying Potter, with a look torn between rage and pity on her face._ No way_, Lily thought, anger coursing through her body. _She can't possibly feel sorry for him, could she? _Lily's unspoken question was answered when Willow's eyes met hers, their usually violet color hardened almost to black.

She hated Potter as much as Lily did.

Something flickered in Willow's eyes and Lily felt herself calm down slightly. Closing her emerald orbs and shaking her head, sending her dark-red tresses flying, Lily turned back to Potter.

"Look," she said, taking a deep breath, bracing herself for what she was about to reveal to her most abhorred classmate. "A long time ago...something happened that made me want to...to take scissors to my face and scar it so bad that no one would ever think I was pretty again."

Lily's voice cracked, forcing her to look away and swallow hard, blinking rapidly to hide her newly risen tears. She could feel Willow and Dathan staring at her with wide eyes, obviously amazed that Lily would ever _willingly_ talk about what had happened, much less disclose it to a guy she obviously loathed. And yet, their presence reassured her somehow, telling her that what she was doing was right. After all, they were the only ones, aside from Lily's family, who knew of her ordeal.

Lily opened her eyes and looked at Potter head-on. "I...I don't want people to know how I look - how I _really_ look, without those horrid glasses and tying my hair up into braids and always wearing clothes two sizes too big for me. I don't think I could...I don't think I'd be okay if," Lily faltered, lowering her gaze."...If what happened to me before happened to me again. I don't think I'll..._ever_ be okay, even now. S-so, I...I would really appreciate it if...if you wouldn't tell anyone. _Please_."

Lily couldn't bring herself to look at anyone after her little speech, so she instead stared at the ground, her arms crossed protectively across her chest.

After a while, Potter said, "Fine. I won't tell anyone."

Lily looked up, almost startled that Potter agreed so quickly, and without really being persuaded. That was, until he spoke again.

"I won't tell," he said, looking her straight on. "If _you_ do."

Lily stared at him, her eyes wide. "But I...I _can't_ -"

"Well, then, I _may_ just tell someone about you and your little escapades."

Emmy gasped from her place on the staircase. "James..."

"You - you _can't_!" Lily cried desperately, taking a step closer. "Please! You-you don't _understand_! _I_ couldn't tell _anyone_ about this! It took me a _year_ to even tell my parents! And - and Willow and Dathan - I almost didn't tell _them_, my best friends! Do you have any _idea_ how _hard_ it is to have to deal with that? There's no possible way you _could_!"

"Don't be so sure of that, Evans. You're not the only one who's had a hard life," Potter replied with some acidity.

Dathan leapt off of the boys' staircase. "You have no _idea_ what Lily's been through, you moronic bastard! How could you even _compare_ her life to your poor, sheltered _excuse_ for one?"

Lily just stared at Potter, tears falling silently from her eyes, leaving trails as dense as rivers flowing down her face. "What have I _done_ to you," she whispered, her voice trembling, "to make you _hate_ me so much?"

Potter looked at her and something in his eyes changed. "I-"

"_Save_ _it_," Willow said icily, showing more emotion that she had in the past few weeks. She walked over to Lily with an insane amount of grace for someone shaking with fury and wrapped her arms around Lily's quietly sobbing form.

Willow led Lily to the staircase, where Emmy grabbed the crying girl's arms and looked imploringly into her face, her concerned eyes saying everything her lips did not.

After taking a deep breath and calming herself to the point that it was almost eerie, Willow turned back to Potter and said softly, "I don't believe I've ever met a bigger _idiot_, Mr. Potter. I would leave screaming and insults out of the conversation the next time you wish to tell a girl you fancy her."

* * *

James Potter was sitting up in the Astronomy Tower, his legs dangling out through the stone spindles on the balcony. 

It was just after 9:00pm, and despite the fact that James' stomach was rumbling loudly, the only thing he could think about was Lily Evans.

After their little...conversation that morning, Evans had missed all of the classes that James shared with her, as well as meals. Emmica and those two goth friends of hers hadn't been sighted either.

James sighed heavily. Why should he care if a nerdy little freak girl didn't show up to any of her classes? Was it his fault if she starved from not eating? _No_, his brain said. No, he had done nothing wrong.

Evans' words kept playing over and over in his head. _"What have I **done **to you to make you **hate** me so much?"_

What had she _done_? A whole hell of a lot, as far as James was concerned. First of all, she'd taken the note that he and Sirius were writing, stolen his roll of parchment, forced him to complete a potion they were supposed to work on together all by his lonesome, given his friends reason to completely embarrass him, ruined his Quidditch celebratory party, and had picked more fights with him than even Snape had.

And yet...looking back on it, James' reasons for hating the redhead bookworm seemed so...insignificant. As he thought about it, he realized that he had been a lot worse to Evans in five minutes than she had ever been to him in all the time they'd known each other.

_"Well, then, I **may** just tell someone about you and your little escapades."_

He hadn't meant for it to come out like that. James had only wanted to say that it wasn't fair to hide such beauty from the world, and that there was no way Evans could expect him to. But of course, as always, he'd come across as a complete asshole.

James sighed heavily. _Why do I bother to **think** so much about that little brat?_ He wondered as he stared down at the ground several stories below him. _It's not like I **care** about her at all, and who would? She's a stubborn, hot-headed, snobby bitch with a horrible temper. She means nothing to me, nothing at all._

James almost believed himself.

The sound of a door opening startled James out of his thoughts. He looked over and saw Sirius walking towards him. He sat down next to James silently and stuck his legs through the spindles just as his bespectacled friend had.

"Hey," he said, once he was in a comfortable position.

"Hey," James replied back, directing his attention up towards the sky.

The two sat in silence for some time, both of them pretending to admire the dazzling twinkle of the stars while really lost in their own thoughts.

"So," Sirius said after a while. "It seems you're having girl troubles?" It wasn't really a question.

James' head swiveled over to look at his friend. "What do you mean?" He said unconvincingly.

"Well, you're obviously not just sitting up here to stare at the sky like people who write poetry and have deep thoughts. And there hasn't been much of anything else on your mind lately."

James snorted softly. "Right, like you've actually been _in_ my mind."

"Why would _I_ be in _your_ mind? Wow, Prongs, I'm flattered, but I don't swing that way."

James glared at his attention-loving friend for a moment before looking back up at the sky.

"Jeez, this must be serious," Sirius said, eyeing James with slight concern and pity. "You haven't even made an attempt to stand up for yourself."

James sighed and shook his head. "It's nothing."

"Really," Sirius said, obviously seeing through James' comment. "You know, you're one of the worst liars I've ever-"

The sound of the tower door opening stopped Sirius mid-sentence. Both boys scrambled into the shadows, not wanting to be caught out of bed by anyone.

But the person that emerged from the doorway wasn't Filch, McGonagal, or any other person of high authority. It was Evans.

She looked slightly unsteady, and seemed to wobble a bit as she walked towards the balcony. She rested both hands on the railing and leaned against it, sighing a sad, shaky sigh. Then, looking up at the sky she said, "Mum? Can you hear me?"

James sat frozen in the darkness with Sirius at his side. What was Evans doing out so late? And since when had her mother been dead? He silenced his thoughts as the redhead began to speak again.

"I - I just wanted to say hi. How are you doing? Is cloud nine as great as you said it'd be? Are you h- happy up there, all by yourself?" Evans made a strange noise, halfway between a choke and a sob. She sniffed a bit, then continued.

"Remember a long time ago when dad said I'd grow up to look just like you? Well, I do now. But - mum, please forgive me...I don't _want_ to look like you. I don't want people to treat me how they treated you - how they treated me, before..." She cut off again, taking a deep breath.

"How did you stand it, mum? How could you...be so...sane, when the world was falling apart? Because I really, really need to know. I - I'm so lost. I have no idea what to do. I...mum, please don't cry, but I don't think I can take this anymore. I just want -" Evans let out a strangled sob. "I just want it all to end. But...I'm not brave like you, mum. I can't just...go through with it. I know Dathan cuts his wrists, and he says it helps him, but I just don't know. I feel like crying every time I see his arms...

"And Willow? You remember how she was always so happy, even though her life was left in shambles when their dad left? Mum...she hardly talks now. I can feel her slipping away into the darkness - I watch it consume her, tearing her down until there's nothing left. I - I just want things to be the way they were, before _he_ came along and ruined everything."

Evans was full-on sobbing now, and James felt part of his heart go out to her. He had absolutely no idea what was going on, but he knew it was something bad, and he knew that it somehow had something to do with him and what had happened earlier.

"I was all my fault, mum. All of it. All of that time we lost, all of the guilt you felt, everything. I - I found the note you left. Mum - God, _why_? Why'd you hafta leave us, right when everything was so _horrible_? It...it was my fault. Everything. Even your death. _I_ caused it, didn't I? You could've put me in a home somewhere. You could've left me out on the street - anything but what you did.

"Are you watching us, mum? Have you watched us fall apart since you left? Petunia blames me - she _hates_ me now, and won't even talk to me. She's getting married, and she hasn't invited me to the wedding. Daddy's so absorbed in his work that he hasn't even realized that I'm sixteen now. He still thinks I'm _eleven_. He blames me too, even if he won't say it out loud. I can feel it every time he looks at me, every time he says how much I look like you. Mum, I'm _haunting_ him with your face. I...I just can't do this anymore. I'm sorry mum...I'm sorry..."

Evans staggered backwards away from the balcony rail, her hand covering her mouth as if she was going to be sick. She walked hastily out through the Astronomy Tower door, her footsteps echoing long after she'd gone.

James remained sitting there in the darkness with Sirius next to him for a lengthy amount of time until the latter broke the silence. "Wow..."

_That's an understatement_, James thought, staring at the place Evans had been standing, the most peculiar feeling coming over him.

James may have hated Evans, may have caused her more pain than even she knew, but if she knew that he had been sitting there, and could've seen his thoughts, she would've blown a gasket. Because there was one thing that James knew about Evans, and about most people before he'd ever met them.

She hated being pitied.

* * *

Lily quietly slipped into her dorm, closing the door softly to avoid drawing attention to herself. 

It didn't work. Willow's voice sounded overhead. "She's back."

Lily didn't have a moment to ponder how her friend knew she was there, before Dathan emerged from the hidden staircase, Willow behind him.

Dathan took in Lily tear streaked face and disheveled appearance. "What -"

A scream pierced their, and the three turned to the staircase. Emmy had fallen down the steps, and was now grasping her stomach and crying. The floor around her was wet.

The trio gasped and rushed to her side. "Her water's broken," Willow said, glancing at the floor.

Emmy sobbed. "The- the baby...I - it's gone!"

* * *

A/N: I hated writing this. I nearly cried at Lily's part. A lot happened, I suppose. Please don't kill me. 

Well, pelase review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	11. Detached Detentions

A/N: I'm baaaaaa-aaaaaaack. -Looks around at angry mob- You know, if you kill me, I'll _never update again_.

D'you ever have times when you know you have to do something, but you really don't want too, for whatever reason? That's almost how I felt while working on this. I love Twises, but my writer's block is making it really hard to think of what to write for this chapter, which is why it took so long. Urg...so if the story suffers because of it, please blame me. I'm sorry.

Also, I noticed that every chapter has James as an insomniac that stays up at night thinking about Lily (Stalker!) and being rotted away by guilt. I'm sorry for the repetitiveness of this fic. It'll get better.

Ahem. On a happier note...

If you haven't already, right now, before you even read my fic, I want all of you to go out and buy the book Twilight and it's sequel, New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer. THEY'RE BLOODY AWESOME! HOLY _CRAP_, THE BEST BOOKS _**EVER**_, EVEN BETTER THAN HARRY POTTER! (This coming from a Potter lover, so they must be good.) Seriously, read them. Now.

Ok, now I know it's a really strange concept, but in this chapter, James' part is a lot longer than Lily's. Weird, huh?

In this chapter, I used quotes from two books, Fruits Basket and Angus, Thongs, and Full-frontal Snogging. See if you can find them. Brownie points to those who do!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially ThePranksterQueens, Akt5us, Zily, EastCoastHPgrl, RavieGrint, Daisy Pixie, Untamed Loner, agent moriel, futurePOTUS, rockstar-101, baybe-of-da-beach, Anjali, Zemmie, punkrebel, Briee, Love Not Dead, asianhomie101, Sweettarts, sarah is kooky, Smileymimi, EowynSaule, firewalker32, -Scp-, rubberband11, sumdea, pajama-rama, Tayler, Higher than Hope, nymph, goodie2shoes19, Cascading Iris, writers are INSANE (your name is so true!), Etar, Zephyras, debbiegirl, CrystalPrincess13, and CatchMeAsIFall. I love you all, and I'm sorry I made you cry! As to the 836 of you who _didn't_ review...why do you hate me?

Well, onto chapter 11!

Disclaimer: I'm missing Desperate Housewives for this fic. I think I'm entitled to not write a creative disclaimer for once. I own nothing.

* * *

James Potter was sitting in Transfigurations, his head settled in his arms on top of his open textbook. 

Needless to say, he was sound asleep.

Or at least he _was_ until Professer McGonagal yelled, "Mr. Potter!"

James yelped, then, sitting up quickly, plastered an innocent look onto his face and asked, "Yes, Professer?"

One of the professor's veins ticked in aggitation at his poor attempt to evade her wrath. "Detention, seven o'clock this evening. Perhaps you could spend some time contemplating exactly _why_ you're supposed to pay attention in my class."

"Ten points to Prongs," Sirius whispered from James's right, a good-natured smirk on his handsome face.

"Unless you _too_ would like detention, Mr. Black," McGonagal's voice sounded from the front of the classroom, "Kindly _refrain_ from talking during my lecture." Sirius shut up instantly.

James groaned inwardly as McGonagal turned back to the chalkboard, continuing on with her lecture. Right when he had finally gotten to sleep...

It had been another long, sleepless night. Only this time, it wasn't James's thoughts that kept him awake, but rather, his guilt.

The gut-wrenching feeling would flare up every time his head replayed his conversation with Evans and what she had said on the balcony. Over and over he had been forced to watch the tears stream down her face, knowing that he had been the one to put them there in the first place.

And what had she meant when she was talking about 'him'? James knew it couldn't be himself - the way Evans had said it made him sure that whoever it was had been a part of her past. A very destructive and sad past, by the sound of it.

James rubbed his eyes in disgust as he realized that he was once again thinking about that firey little redhead. Jeez, the girl had invaed his brain and moved in permanetly.

That couldn't be healthy.

And yet, as James' eyes flicked down to Evans's empty seat, he couldn't help but be a tiny bit concerned. Okay, scratch that, he was _very_ concerned. Though in his mind, that just made it worse.

She had said that she couldn't take it anymore. Did that mean she would try to end her life, as Emmy had?

It wasn't like James cared one wit about Evans, but the idea of having a hand in her depression and even death just made him feel...odd, like there was a lead ball in his stomach. Strange...

James pushed his thoughts of Evans out of his head and tried to pay attention to whatever it was McGonagal was going on about, but the longer he sat there, the harder James had to fight to keep his eyes open. Finally, he gave up the battle and allowed himself to drift back to sleep...

"_Potter_!" James jumped about three feet into the air, then looked up, blinking, to find a very incensed McGonagal.

"_What_ did I tell you about falling asleep in my class?" She said in low, ferocious growl.

James could only gape up at her, knowing that he'd been caught - _again_ - doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. And of course, at that thought, Evans lodged her pretty little self back into James's brain.

McGonagal glared down at his and said in an icy voice, "Since you are so determined _not_ to pay attention to anything I have to say, you can just go back to your common room."

James blinked. "What?"

Turning her back to him, McGonagal walked briskliy back to her desk. She pulled out a large book from one of the drawers and hauled it back over to where James was sitting, slamming it down in front of him.

"You are going to read this book and write a detailed report on the significance of Muggles in this literature, to be handed in on Monday. Now leave before I'm forced to take dire actions." And with that McGonagal turned to the rest of the class and continued on with her lecture, a tiny yet triumphant smile on her face.

After taking a second to blink stupidly at McGonagal's back, James slid his books back into his bag, stood, and left the classroom.

His anger caught up with him as he walked back to the Gryffindor common room. He had a detention. Great, on the _one_ day he'dd been able to make Quidditch practice.

"_Potter_," a voice said nastily from behind James, who instantly recognized the speaker.

And just when he thought the day couldn't get any worse...

"_Snivellus_," he replied scathingly, turing around to face the most-despised boy behind him.

"Shouldn't you be in _class_?" Snape said, his face twisting up into a sneer.

"Shouldn't _you_?" James retorted, growing more annoyed by the second.

"_I_ happen to be on an important errand for Professor Slughorn," Snape said, puffing out his chest like he was proud of it.

_As if being an errand boy is an improtant job_, James thought nastily, glaring at the greasy-haired boy in front of him.

"Don't tell me," Snape continued, walking in a circle around James. "You got kicked out of class for flaunting that enormous head of yours."

James grit his teeth to keep from making a retort, and Snape laughed coldly. "My, how _easy_ you are to predict." He stopped and surveyed James from his place in front of him. "Let me guess...you fell _asleep_ because dear little _Evans_ is keeping you _up_ too late at night."

Something in James snapped, and before James could stop himself, he shoved Snape into the wall behind him.

"Ah, so it's _true_, then," Snape said, massaging his head where it had hit the wall. "How on _Earth_ you could fall for that Mudblood _slut_ is _completely_ beyond me."

"Why do you _call_ her that?" James asked suddenly, his voice betraying him by coming out as a growl.

"Because that's what she _is_, isn't she?" Snape replied, a mock-innocent look on his face. "I mean, why else would she want to _hide_ behind someone like you?"

James detected the hidden meaning in Snape's words, but there was _no_ way he knew Evans secret...right?

Snape, seeing the slightly confused look on James's face, chuckled coldly. "Don't tell me you don't even _know_?"

"Know _what_?" James asked, playing dumb. Hopefully he'd be able to find out what the greasy-haired boy knew without too much effort.

Snape sighed mellodramaticly. "If anything, Potter, you're a _horrible_ actor. I'm not stupid. You and that Mudblood are _far_ too close for you to not know anything about her."

"Don't call her that," James said, anger once again rising in his chest.

"What, Mudblood? That's fairly tame to what I _could_ call her," Snape said, sneering at the bespectacled boy.

"Oh yeah, such as?" James demanded.

"Hm..." Snape replied, evading the question. "You know, I think I'll let you figure that one out for yourself."

As Snape moved to walk away, James grabbed him by the collar of his robes and shoved him against the wall behind the two of them.

"Ooh, a bit _fiesty_, are we?" Snape mocked, a smirk creeping its way up his pale face.

"What do you know about Evans?" James commanded, ignoring the greasy-haired boy's comment.

"Why should I tell _you_?" The latter asked in all seriousness. His smirk was gone and his eyes shone with pure hatred for the boy in front of him.

"Because if you don't, I'll make the rest of your days her a living-"

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" A voice that James by now knew very well shouted, echoing off the practically empty corridor walls.

Without turning, James said in as calm a voice as he could muster, "Go _away_, Evans." He sincerly hoped she'd listen to him because chances were, Evans wouldn't take too kindly to the idea of two people she hated fighting over her.

But, as usual, James words only succeeded to make the redhead even more incensed. He could practically _feel_ her bristle behind him.

Evans struted over to the two brawling boys and planted herself right in James's face despite their height differences. He marveled for a moment at how her presence seemed to grow as she got angry.

"I'm sorry," she said in a sweetly simpering voice, her bazing emerald eyes being the only indication to her utter fury, "But it seems that you are mistaking me for someone who actually _cares_ what you have to say. Now, if you don't mind, _let him go_." The last exclaimation came out just as menacing and full of hatred as Snapes words to him had been.

James hesitated, suddenly struck by the fact that Evans was quite attractive when she was angry, even with her glasses and geeky appearal.

Shit.

"Are you _deaf_?" Evans demanded, her voice loosing its sweetness and rising several decibals. "I said, _let him go_."

The fact that Evans would defend someone - some_thing_ as disguting as Snape made anger course through James's veins. "Why do you always stand up for this...this..."

"Why do you always _torment_ him? What could he've _possibly_ done that was so catastrophic to you and your overly-inflated head?"

As Evans asked this, James was struck with the sudden realization that that was the second time in the last ten minutes he'd been told he had an inflated head. Thinking about Snape and Evans having something in common made James's blood boil with some strange-yet-strong emotion, and he unconsiously turned the filter between his brain and his mouth off.

"Why do you have to be such a _bitch_? And why are you _here_, anyway? Shouldn't you be off with your _loser_ friends getting high or whatever it is _freaks like you_ do?"

Evans balked at him for a moment. Then her lovely eyes narrowed further than James would've thought possible. When she spoke, her voice rose vehemently and trembled with such fury and maliciousness that James had to stop himself from taking a step backwards.

"What _right_ do you have to call me a bitch when _you're_ the one harrassing someone just to make yourself _feel_ better? What _right_ do you have to _insult_ my friends for being _different_ from you? I don't have to _explain_ myself to you, because you know what? It's none of your Goddamn _business_! Who do you think you _are_, Potter? Do you think you're _God_? Well let's get something perfectly straight, shall we? If _you're_ God, then send me to hell _right now_, because I'd rather rot there than spend _one second_ of my existence with _you_."

It was now James's turn to balk at Evans, but that was cut short when a noise sounded out through the hall from behind Evans. They both turned around and saw Professor McGongal standing in her doorway, a murderous look upon her face. Neither of them noticed that Snape was now gone from the hallway.

"Don't stop on account of me," she said coldly, her eyes narrowed.

"Pro-Professor McGonagal," Evans said, her voice coming out slightly high pitched. "I - I'm sorry, I was just coming from the hospital wing. Emmica Traversy had a...an accident. Willow and Dathan Brinks and I were staying with her to make sure she's okay. I just came by to get our homework."

James turned sharply to look at Evans. Emmica had _another_ 'accident'?

McGonagal's face remained hard, but her voice softened a bit. "Be that as it may, Miss Evans, you and Mr. Potter here were having a lovely little _screaming_ match in the hallway outside of my classroom, disrupting the class that that _both of you_ should have been in. I have no choice to but to put you in detention as well."

"But - but I -"

"I'm sorry, Miss Evans," McGonagal said, before turning back towards her classroom. "I expect both of you at my classroom at seven o'clock tonight." Then the door to the classroom closed, leaving James and Evans out in the now-silent hallway.

James looked over at Evans, who he could was silently fuming. "Look, Evans, I-"

"Go to hell, Potter," she said quietly, cutting off anything he'd been about to say. And with that, she truned on her heel and walked back in the direction of the hospital wing, leaving James standed there, watching her until she dissappeared.

* * *

Lily Evans stormed into the hospital wing, greeted by the startled looks on the faces of her three friends. 

Okay, so Emmy and Dathan looked surprised, but Willow, as usual, didn't even blink.

"Where does McGonagal get off giving _me_ a detention?" Lily fummed as the others watched on. "I mean, I was the one _stopping_ those idiot from fighting!"

"It's good to see you're no longer _moping_," Dathan said, one side of his mouth curving up into a pathetic imitation of his usual smile.

Lily looked over at him, then at Emmy, who was lying in one of the hospital beds, propped up by three pillows. Lily, Dathan and Willow had taken her directly to Madame Pomfrey after her fall down the hidden staircase. Though it was a similar situation, it seemed as though this mad dash to the hospital wing was even more of a life-and-death situation than the last one had been.

That's saying something, considering the last time, Emmy was in danger of bleeding to death.

Unfortunately, Lily and Willow had never actually gotten around to _telling_ Dathan that Emmy was pregnant to begin with, so he had pretty much had a heart attack when he found out, which, Lily realized, explained the painfully tight smile on Dathan's face. He was worried.

Thinking about Emmy instantly made Lily feel horrible for complaining as she just had.

"Oh, stuff it, Dathan," Willow said, elbowing her brother out of the way so that she could stand in front of the redhead. Sending Lily a level gaze, she said in her usual somber manner, "I do hope you realize _who_ you'll be serving this detention with."

"Of _course_ I realize that Potter'll be there," Lily said without her previous enthusiasm. Not caring to wonder how her gothic friends knew that Potter had a detention as well, she averted her eyes from Willow's powerful gaze and back away from her friends. "Of - of course I..."

"Lily," Emmy, from her place on the bed, said soothingly. "It's okay. I know James - I mean, I _dated_ him for three months in fourth year. He's _not_ the kind of person who would shout out someone else's secrets just for the fun of it."

"But how do you know?" Lily cried, hysteria etched into every inch of her bespectacled face. "You and me, we're _completely_ different cases. How do you know he won't tell _my_ secret? He _hates_ me, Emmy, and people who hate each other _don't_ keep one another's secrets!" She took a deep breath. "And how...how can you even bear to comfort me, when really _you're_ the one we all should be worried about?"

"Lily..." Emmy said, her brows furrowing from either sadness or irritation, Lily couldn't tell which.

"I'm serious, Emmy. Here you are lying in bed, and I'm ranting on about some bloody _boy_. I...my problems are so small and _trivial_ in comparision to yours, and here I am whining and moaning over it like it's the end of the world."

"Lily, stop," Emmy said, her voice nearly breaking. "L-look, we all have problems. I mean, you had something really bad happen to you, and it effects you _every day_. I...I didn't even _want_ this baby to begin with so...so there's...no use making a big fuss about me. I'm...fine."

"Would you _stop_ _doing_ that!" Lily practically yelled, her eyes welling up with tears. "Stop trying to belittle your problems, Emmy! I know as well as _you_ do that you wanted to keep the baby. If you didn't, it would've been _long_ gone by now. It seems like you're always trying to comfort everyone else, when it's _you_ who needs the comforting. Why can't you just be _selfish_ for once in your life and think about yourself? Why can't you...why can't you just express how you _feel_?"

Tears were leaking out of the corners of Emmy's eyes. "You...you don't even _realize_ it, do you? Lily, you're...you're _exactly_ like that. You're always belittling your problems and trying to help others...like that. You _saved_ me, Lily, and I...I owe you my _life_. I wouldn't even _be_ here if it weren't for you. If I'm allowed to be selfish, why aren't _you_?"

Lily shook her head. "Me, not _selfish_? I have been nothing _but_ selfish ever since I was...for a really long time. All I ever do is worry about _my_ problems and never stop to think that anyone else may have some too. I mean, look at now. Today, I've been _so_ worried that Potter'd spill my secret to the school that I've barely paid any attention to anything going on around me, like you guys. I'm...I'm a horrible person, Emmy, and I'm nothing like you."

"You're wrong," Emmy said, locking her gaze with Lily's. "You are so wrong, Lily."

Lily looked at Emmy with tears still streaming out of her eyes for a moment before engulfing her friend in a tight hug. Emmy instantly wrapped her arms around Lily and the two just stayed there, one standing, one sitting, crying into each other's shoulders.

After a little while, Lily felt another pair of arms encircle her and looked up to see Willow's violet eyes blazing with long-surpressed emotion.

Shifting her eyes to the clock, Lily said quietly, "It's dinner time. Would anyone like me to get them something?"

Right on cue, Emmy's stomach rumbled, and she blushed a bit. "...I guess I'm a little hungry..."

"Don't worry about it, Lily," Dathan said, steping up to the three embracing girls. "I can go get food."

Lily wiped her eyes and sniffed. "No, Dathan, it's okay. I need to...to clear my head." She flashed an almost pleading smile at her only male friend, who sighed and ran his fingers through his chocolatey hair.

"We'll be waiting," Willow said, releasing Lily from her grasp.

"Okay," Lily replied, nodding. And with that she walked away from Emmy's bed and left the hospital wing.

Once she was in the dark stone hallway, Lily backed up against the cold stone wall and sunk down into a sitting postion. Pulling her knees up close to her body, she fought the urge to cry some more.

"That's _enough_," she whispered forcefully to herself. "If...if Potter tells your secret, it'll all be okay. You'll still have Willow and Dathan and Emmy. They won't abandond you like Petunia and dad...it'll all be okay. Look, Emmy's going to be alright, and all you have to do is go through one detention and that'll be it. Just - just apologize to Potter and everything will go back to normal. Maybe he'll even ingore you like he used to. See? It's okay. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry..."

Lily shut her eyes tightly for a second, then stood up, her legs wobbling slightly. She turned and placed her fingers on the wooden door she had just exited out of. "You're _wrong_, Emmy," she whispered into the silence of the corridor. "I'm no where _near_ as good as you." Then she sighed and continued her trudge towards the kitchens.

* * *

James Potter lay on his bed, one arm under head head, the other busy catching a Snitch he'd nicked from the last Quidditch game. 

Usually this helped calm him down, but not tonight.

"Hey, Prongs," Remus said, walking into the dorm. "Sirius told me you have a detention tonight with Lily Evans."

"Don't remind me," James responded, forgetting all about the tiny gold ball that was currently zomming above his head. He rolled over onto his side as Sirius and Peter walked into the room.

"What's this? Dear Prongsie isn't jumping at the chance to spend time with his beloved Evans? Whatever it the matter with him?" Sirius asked in mock concern.

"Shut up, Pad," James replied without moving or looking at his friend.

"Wow, this must be serious, no pun intended," Remus said, moving to stand closer to James and ducking as the Snitch whizzed past his head. "Why're you so upset about all of this?"

"I'm _not_," James said, turning onto his other side to aviod looking his friend in the eye.

"Really? Could this have something to do with that fight you were having with Evans in the hallway?" Sirius asked innocently.

James glared daggers at Sirius, then laughed histarically when his Snitch hurled itself into his friend's head.

* * *

A/N: I know what you're thinking: It took her 3 months to put out a FILLER? Yeah. Sorry. 

Well, please review! (If you don't, I'll come after you.)

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	12. Diary Confessions

A/N: Hello everyone! -Pulls out shield- Hit me with your best shot! -Deflects tomatoes- HA!

So I was sitting at my desk in English class, trying to think of what to write for this notebook thing that my friend and I have been passing around for over a year now, and my teacher goes, "Open your minds an let the possibilities flow through you." Apparently it's a quote from whichever story we're reading, but I heard it, and suddenly, my writer's block was gone. Yes, you hear right - **my writer's block is** **gone!** So now I can actually write semi-good chapter! Hazzah! -Crowd cheers-

I'm jst gonna say that I never knew how many friends I had until I had to spend about $5 on each of them for Christmas. I'm running out of cash! I'm running out of time! I'm running out of sanity! Arg!

Ok, so in the CoS, it says that Harry and Co. were 12 in 1995. That doesn't seem right to me. Instead, I'm gonna make him be 16 _now_. (Since his birthday isn't till July.) Remember, this is Harry I'm talking about. So he was born in...1989 sounds right. So this story taking place in 1982. I know it's not how it is in the book, but...I can honestly say that I don't care! This is MY fic, and it's slightly AU as it is, so why not mix it up some more? Am I right?

Two things about this chapter:

1) Just so you know, James' part takes place _during_ Lily's part, so they're happening at the same time.

2) I personally believe that smoking is idiotic, but not all people in the 80's did. A lot of teenagers smoked, so if you have an issue with it, I'm sorry, but it's historically accurate. (I bet I'm making people born in the 80's feel old.)

Thanks to all those who reviewed, especially Sweettarts, firewalker32, Siruisblack18, captian jacks grl, goodie2shoes19, Zily, BellaBallerina, serindraxx, Smileymimi, Tayler, RavieGrint, Briee, Anjali, crownerofkings, debbiegirl, lady potter7447, xxx.me.xxx, an extremely hyper blonde, reeltreble1031, featherfinger, lily-potter-the2nd-and1/2, and Becca. Thanks so much!

CrownerofKings: I itallicise words to show that they are emphasized. It makes the sentence clearer and stresses what I want stressed. So you're gonna see a lot of them, especially when James and Lilly fight.

Well, onto chapter 12!

Disclaimer: I'm doing a rap project in my Japanese class, so here's a little tidbit of that which I hate.

My name is - what?

My name is - what?

My name is...

...Totally not J.K. Rowling.

Hey, stop looking at me like that. I live in the suburbs of Detriot.

* * *

Lily Evans was sitting alone at a table in the kitchens, a spiral notebook and pencil in front of her. 

A long time ago, someone had given her the spiral for Christmas. Lily had thought it a somewhat thoughtless gift, because it's not like she ever had any inspirational ideas or anything to write down. And she wasn't really a diary type of person, either.

Or at least she hadn't been, at the time.

Recently, though, her life had just felt so complicated that maybe, she had thought, just maybe, it would help to jot a few things down. She could certianly stand to stop dwelling on some events in particular...

If only she knew how to start. She'd been carrying the notebook around with her for the past few days, mostly using it for class notes, but now she felt that could actually find the words to express how she was feeling, not to mention something actually _worth_ writing down.

Lily picked up the pencil and poised it over the lined page. It felt so heavy and awkward in her hand compared to the light-weight quills she normally used.

An odd sensation spread though Lily at that thought, like a strange realization. It's true she was a Muggleborn, but was she becoming so used to the magical world that even things that wouldn't have seemed like big deal, such as using a pencil, were now weird and almost foreign?

_Well_, Lily thought, turning her attention back to the page in front of her, _I'd better get this done. I have to take food down to the others. Then there's that detention... _

Lily cringed just thinking about it. Of all people, James Potter was the one she least wanted to deal with at the moment.

Lily brought her pencil down on the page, and, in her neat, swooping cursive, wrote:

_April 30th 1982,_

Pausing to sort through her thoughts, Lily pressed the pencil back to the paper and continued on.

_I've never done this before, so..._

_Emmy lost her baby. She fell down the stairs and her water broke. She was only about two months along. She tries to play it off, but you can tell she's dying inside. I...I feel like Emmy's had more than she can take. I mean, getting pregnant, having the father reject her, trying to kill herself, then this...I don't know how she can stand it. _

_She told me today that I'm always sacrificing my happiness for others, but that's a lie. I am the most selfish person alive. And it's so sad, because it's she who's like that, not me. I wish she could see that..._

Lily tapped her chin with her pencil and took a deep breath, then wrote:

_I went down to get everyone's homework from McGonagal, since we were all staying with Emmy in the hospital wing, and I walked in on Potter and Snape fighting. Well, more like Potter beating Snape up. I couldn't stand by and watch it - I never could - so I butted in, as usual. Potter snapped at me about how it was none of my business, then went on to insult Dathan and Willow. I'm sorry, but I can't let people make fun of my friends, especially those who know nothing about them. Willow and Dathan saved me - they were there for me after everything that happened, and I couldn't just let Potter get away with that, so I kind of exploded at him. I guess that was wrong to do, though, because McGonagal caught us and gave us detention - together. _

_Potter knows my secret. I don't know if I can spend time with him, especially if were alone. I can't trust him - I can't trust myself - not to start fighting and reveal something else to him. I still don't know how he found out in the first place._

It took Lily a second to realize that she was crying. Her handwriting, smeared slightly by her tears falling onto the lined paper, was getting messier and messier as the entry went on. But Lily wasn't finished yet.

_I'm so scared. I can't let Potter tell anyone my secret. I can't let it get like it was when I was in primary school. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have let mum talk me into going into the industry as soon as I did. I should have waited. Then I wouldn't even be in this mess. But for now, I need to focus on getting through this detention without letting Potter figure out another important aspect of my life. Maybe it'll all be OK, and he won't do anything. I'll try to stay calm, and hopefully that'll work. _

_It better._

Lily closed her notebook just as a house elf came up to her, a basket of food in hand. "Miss?" It squeaked. "Your food is ready."

"Oh," Lily said, wipping her eyes with her sleeve and stowing her notebook and pencil away. "Th-thank you."

"Is Miss all right?" The house elf asked, a look of concern in it's large, luminous eyes.

"Oh - yes. Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking, and for the food..."

"It is a pleasure, Miss," The elf said, bowing so low that its nose almost touched the ground.

Lily took the basket and left the kitchens, taking a few deep breaths to compose herself. She really wanted to talk to Willow and Dathan about everything, but right now, Emmy's condition was far more important. Lily didn't want to needlessly trouble her friends by bringing up things that had happened so long ago.

As Lily walked through the hallways, a group of fifth-years turned into the corridor in front of her chatting noisily. And what Lily overheard made her want to kick something.

"Oh my God! James Potter actually _smiled_ at me! He _so_ did!" A brunette with way more makeup than nessicary said loudly, earning squeals from her companions.

"You are so _lucky_, Mattie! I wish he'd smile at _me_!" Another one exclaimed. Lily wanted to literally grab her by the neck and strangle her.

"He hasn't been smiling a whole lot lately..." One added, a little forlornly.

"Yeah, and there are weird rumors going around about him and _Lily Evans_."

Lily halted her footsteps out of sheer shock. Rumors? What rumors? Why hadn't she heard about this before?

_Oh, yeah, I'm kinda on the bottom of the food chain_, Lily thought before quickly tuning back in to listen to the other girls as the group turned in the direction of the Astronomy Tower, which was in the opposite directiong of the hospital wing. But Lily was far too intersted in the conversation to care much for small details like that.

"Who's Lily Evans?"

"She's that Prefect from Gryffindor, you know, the one with red hair."

"You mean the one who has glasses and wears really ugly clothes and braids?"

"Yeah, that's her."

_If only they knew I was standing right behind them..._ Lily thought silently.

"So what are the rumors?" A short, blonde girl asked.

"Well, apparently Evans and James are really close. They're _always_ together."

Lily raised her eyebrows but kept trailing behind them, not wanting to miss anything.

"So they're, like, dating?"

"I don't think so, but I _do_ see them together a lot."

By now the group had reached the top of the tower and was standing near the balcony. Lily, not wanting to give herself away, remained on the stairs.

"But all they ever do together is fight. I mean, have you _seen_ Lily Evans when she's mad? That girl has one nasty temper."

"Well, what's a good relationship without a few disaggreements?" The girl who spoke first asked the others. "After a fight, there's always good make-up sex. And you can bet that James would be good at that, even if Evans wasn't."

That's where Lily drew the line. Clearing her throat loudly, she watched with mild amusment as the fifth-years turned around, their faces growing white in surprise.

"That - that's her, isn't it?" One whispered, almost inaudibly as Lily climbed up the remaining steps and set down her basket of food. The fifth-year was imeadiately elbowed in the ribs by one of the others.

Lily grinned slightly and narrowed her eyes at the lot of them. "Yes, I'm Lily Evans. And yes, I heard everything just you said. I'm sure that Potter will be _extremely_ amused when he hears about all this make-up sex we've apparently been having. So amused, in fact, that he may just come and find you so that he can hear the story himself."

"S-so, it's _not_ true then?" One of them asked.

"Oh yes, it's totally true," Lily said with all the sarcasm she could muster. "I am just _so_ in love with Potter, I could _die_."

"Are you really?" A male voice from behind Lily asked. The redhead turned around, her braids whiping at her face, and found herself face to face with Sirius Black.

Lily didn't miss the fact that he was eye-level with her standing a step below her. Honestly, it seemed like men only exsisted to make her feel short. Setting her jaw, Lily pulled herself up to full height and glared at the boy in front of her.

"I'm sorry," she said coolly, crossing her arms across her chest, "But it's rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations."

"But isn't that what you were just doing?" Black asked inoccently, ascending the remaining steps and standing lazily in front of the redhead.

"It's different if said conversation is about you."

"Oh really? Well, your conversation was about my best friend, so that gives me every right to 'eavsedrop', as you so quaintly put it." Black grinned wickedly at her. "So here I was under the impression that you hated dear Jamsie, when really, you were _in love_ with him the whole time?"

"Right," Lily said, barely containing a snort. "I love Potter like an ice cube loves a hot sidewalk."

"Oh? So you're saying that James heats you up, Miss Ice Queen?" Black asked, reaching into his robes pocket to pull out a pack of ciggarettes.

Lily whirled around to face the fifth years behind her and smiled a sickly sweet smile. "If you'd excuse Mr. Black and I..." Then she grabbed Black's wrist in a death hold and dragged him further down the balcony.

"Wow, Evans, I'm flattered that you want to be alone, but what happened to being in love with my best friend?"

"For your information, Black," Lily spat out venemously as Black stuck the fag into his mouth and lit it, "I hate Potter more than I've ever hated almost any one person or thing in my entire life, and I can honestly say that there will never be a moment when he 'heats me up', unless he purposely sets me on fire with that careless wand of his."

Black smirked at her. "You _do_ realize how dirty that sounded, right?"

Lily clamped her lips shut and whirled around, walking steadily away from the obnoxious boy with whom she'd formally been conversing, if one even could call it that.

"Hey Evans - wait up!" Black called. "I was kidding. Bloody hell, can't you even take a joke?"

"I _can_, thank you very much," Lily said haughtily without looking at the black haired boy casually smoking behind her. "Afterall, I wouldn't be able to stand being with either you _or_ Potter for long periods of time if I _couldn't_, now would I?"

Lily walked on, glad that her last remark had left Black standing in the corridor, gaping at her as she headed back to the hospital wing with the food.

* * *

James Potter was walking through the corridors, thinking about the detention he'd been given just a few hours earlier. 

_Evans must be fuming right now,_ he thought, imagining her face flushing redder than her hair. The flush spread from her face to her neck, then down to her-

James shook his head to clear it of such thoughts. Evans was the _enemy_, here. He had no time to be lusting after her.

Even if one of his greatest wishes was to see her naked again..._No!_

James stopped and slammed his fist into the stone wall next to him, immeadiately regretting it as pain spread throught his entire hand. "Shit," he swore, massaging his knuckles.

"I didn't mean to startle you..."

Despite being forewarned, James jumped, then turned around and saw the gothic girl that Evans hung around with. Willow...Brinks, was it?

"That's one _lovely_ vocabulary you have there. Do you swear at every wall you foolishly slam your fist into, or is this one just special?"

"I thought you were in the hospital with Emmica..." James said, feeling slightly stupid and awkward. There was something about this girl that just seemed...odd.

"Well, obviously I'm not any longer." The way she spoke, with such a monotonous voice, unnerved James a little. "I came to look for Lily. She went out to get food from the kitchens a while ago, but never came back. Have you seen her?"

"No, I haven't," James replied, suddenly angry. _It's not like I would tell her if I had_... he thought, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to tell me if you had..." The gothic girl trailed off with a slight shrug. James' head snapped up. _How did she...?_

Willow smiled eerily but said nothing. "Good bye, Potter," she said, turning to leave.

"Wait!" James yelled on impulse, grabbing the girl's shoulder. His eyes widdened as he felt how thin and frail she was. Releasing his grasp, James stared at the girl in front of him, marveling in the fact that he had never noticed how...sickly she looked, how deathly pale she was.

"I..." James started, but his mind couldn't seem to form the words.

Willow sighed heavily. "Let me guess, you want me to explain what happened back in the common room that night. You want to know why Lily was so upset, why she was sobbing over being found out."

James just stared at her, amazed that she could read him so easily.

The girl her head. "I'm sorry, but I am not at liberty to relay those things to you. I swore on my life that I would never tell Lily's secret. She's my best friend - I would never betray her."

"Oh, I - I see," James said, tearing his eyes from her intense gaze. It wasn't like he even _cared_ about what had happened in Evans' life, he just...

Willow's violet eyes searched his face for a moment. "She's not as strong as she wants people to believe, you know. She's not good at hiding things from anyone. But she has kept this secret since she was eleven years old, and if anyone finds out, I promise that there will be hell to pay. And that'll be _before_ Dathan has a chance to get at you." With that, she walked away, her long black skirt whipping around her legs with every step she took.

James followed her with his eyes, recalling how he had accused her of being a druggie in his...conversation with Evans. The speech that Willow had given him just now completely disproved that theory. That girl was so sober it was scary.

And...why was she so thin? It didn't make sense. James had spent a fair amount of time watching Evans at breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Great Hall (though he would never admit it), and he knew that he had seen Willow eat. But...she seemed ill, like she had some sort of disease that was eating away at her, sapping her in two.

Evans' sobbing voice echoed in James' mind.

_"And Willow? You remember how she was always so happy, even though her life was left in shambles when their dad left? Mum...she hardly talks now. I can feel her slipping away into the darkness - I watch it consume her, tearing her down until there's nothing left..."_

"That about sums it up," James said out loud to the deserted corridor.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, you know." James turned and saw Remus walking towards him, carrying several heavy books.

"I'll keep that in mind," James said distractedly.

"You okay, Prongs?" Remus asked, shifting his load to lay a hand on James' shoulder.

"Yeah, just peachy."

"Looking forward to your detention tonight?" Remus questioned, retracting his hand and grinning at the annoyed look on James' face.

"Would you be looking forward to spending long periods of time with a girl who's greatest wish is to behead you?"

"I seriously doubt that Lily wants to behead you. She's too nice for that." Upon seeing the look on James' face, Remus added, "She may _threaten_ to behead you, but she won't. It'd look bad on any job applications she ever submitted. Though I suppose it could go under 'pest control'..."

James glared at his fellow Marauder. "Whose side are you on?"

A concerned look painted itself onto Remus' face. "It's not like you to be so...uptight, James. I'm guessing there's more to this whole Lily thing that you're not telling me."

James sighed, hating the fact that Remus was so intuned to other people's feelings. "I just...I don't know what that girl has stuck up her arse that makes her..._hate_ me so much."

Remus looked a little offended. "I seriously doubt she has anything stuck up her arse. Lily isn't the type of person to just hate a person for no reason. There must've been something you did to annoy her. Think."

"But I didn't, that's the thing!" James exclaimed angrily. "I bumped into her in the hallway and offered to help her pick up her books, but she said she didn't need help. Then I was just passing notes to Padfoot in class. That's all."

It was now Remus' turn to sigh. "James, Lily is a Prefect and the top student in the entire school. It would obviously upset her to have the person sitting next to her knock all the books out of her hands because he's late for class, then spend the entire time writing notes to his friend across the classroom. I can sorta understand where she's coming from."

"Fine," James huffed. He had hoped that talking to Remus would help him feel better, but he was way off target on that one.

"Look, James, Lily is a really sweet girl. Maybe if you apologized, she wouldn't hate you so much."

"'A sweet girl'?" What, do you fancy her or something?" James asked, an odd sensation rising in his chest.

"Like her? I've been friends with her for three years, James."

_That didn't answer my question..._James thought without saying anything.

"I've gotta get to the Library," Remus said, changing the subject. "You'd better get down to the Great Hall if you want to eat before your detention."

"Yeah. See you later," James said with a careless wave of his hand.

It took him a moment to realize what that bizarre, strangling feeling that had made him actually want to clobber Remus was.

He was _jealous_.

* * *

Lily was sitting on Emmy's hospital bed a few hours later, finishing up a delicious brownie. 

"You should get going. If you're late, you may get _another_ detention," Emmy said, a small smile on her face.

The redhead in question groaned. "I was hoping to avoid doing that until the last possible moment."

"Wow, Lils, you _really_ don't want to spend any time with Potter, do you?"

"It is that obvious?" Lily responded sarcastically to Dathan's comment. She then sighed. "I'm sorry, I just...I'm worried he might..."

"Don't worry, Lily," Emmy said, placing a had on Lily's arm. "James isn't stupid. He knows that there are people here willing to kick his ass if he does something to you."

"It will be fine, Lily," Willow said. There was such an air of finality in her words that Lily 's protests died in her throat. Instead she shrugged dehectedly and stood, waving goodbye to her friends.

It was nice to know that they were so confident that everything would go smoothly.

If only she could believe them...

* * *

A/N: I know, it was nearly a filler, but I needed to put it in. Don't hate me, 'k? 

Well, please review! (You too, Katie! I wanna know what you think!)

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	13. Detention Apprehension

A/N: So, I actually started writing this on my birthday. I'm 17 now. God, I feel old.

I was randomly searching through Ouran High School Host Club videos on You Tube when I found one to Welcome to the Black Parade. It was so awesome, I've listened to the song about 20 times today. It doesn't get old. I feel bad, though, because I'm not really a true MCR fan, or at least not yet, but I don't want to just jump on the bandwagon, you know? Does that make any sense? (My radio station started playing it, so I'll hear it at least 3 times a day now. -Does jig-) I wanna make an HP video for it. The song was made for HP.

Happy Valentine's Day! Did everyone go get sick on chocolate and those mini heart things? We didn't even have school (Snow day). I was stuck in front of the TV, watching romantic comedies and wondering why I'm the only teenage girl without a date. I should start a club - The Valetine Skippers. TVs, ha.

This is totally random, but I had to plug it. Remember when Leonardo DiCaprio was in Titanic? (Anyone who _doesn't_?) You know his hairstyle? Well, apparently Leo was so popular that the Taliban _banned_ his hairstyle. Yeah. They must have a lot of time on their hands.

I realized as I wrote this that James and I suffer the same ailment: Comeback Syndrome, the impairment that disables one from thinking up comebacks after one has just been verbally insulted. I can never do that. It's like my brain freezes. Maybe it's 'cuz I live so far away from the equator...I've gotten freezer burn.

On a happier note, it's winter break! Yay lazy days! I get to sit around and drink tea all week! Oh, and, you know, update this...

So, I noticed as I was writing this that my writing style is changing. I guess I'm just really tired of all the emo crap that's been clouding the writing universe or something...who knows. But this chapter doesn't seem as angsty as the others for whatever reason. Oh well, it'll go back to its normal moody self after this chapter, most likely.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Love you lots! (See, I don't need a Valentine - I have all of you!)

Well, onto chapter 13! (Wow, 13 already...)

Disclaimer: More poetry for you today...

You can say my story's 'amazing'

That my stuff's the 'real thing'

But no matter what you say or do

I'll never be J.K. Rowling

(...Though I could try and steal her identity, but that'd just be messy. Oh, and this isn't me being concieted or cocky.)

* * *

James Potter was walking down one of the long stone corridors when he realized that he was going to be early for detention.

Come on, seriously, who would purposely be _early_ for detention? Certainly not the infamous James Potter. But early he was, and unfortunately, someone was waiting for him when he got there.

"Jamie! What're you doing here?" Lydia asked unconvincingly upon seeing James round the corner. She had two bottles of what looked like Butterbeer in her hands.

"Oh, hello, Lydia," James replied, wishing he could sink into the floor. Being with this girl made him feel...odd. Trapped, almost. "I have detention."

"Really? How come?" Lydia asked, moving closer to James with a coy look on her face. She handed him one of the bottles, her hand lingering on his as he accepted it.

James shrugged and ran a hand through his unruly onyx hair. "I got into a fight."

"What? Oh, don't tell me you're hurt..." Lydia made to pat him down in search of bruises, but James snorted and subtly stepped out of her reach.

"Hardly. Evans and I were just having a shouting match." Of course, at the mention of said redhead, her image popped right up into James's mind.

Lydia's face darkened at the mention of the other girl's name. "Speaking of Evans," she said, her sickly sweet tone evaporating from her voice. "I heard a very interesting rumor about the two of you..."

James balked at her for a moment. "A rumor about me and Evans?" He cast his mind around to all the things people could possibly be thinking about the two of them and found that none of them were all that unattractive.

Whoa, wait, he wasn't supposed to be thinking about Evans. He tried and failed to push her from his thoughts.

"Yes. Courtney said that she heard that the two of you are a hot new item. I told her that it obviously wasn't true, because I mean, _I'm_ dating you, and seriously, who would pick Evans over _me_?"

_Who indeed..._James thought, somewhat bitterly. He took a sip from the bottle Lydia had given him and found that it was actually firewhiskey.

Even better.

"Then Dottie told me that she overheard some fifth-years talking about how you two were having amazing make-up sex."

Upon hearing this, James promptly spat out all of the firewhiskey he had just inhaled and looked at Lydia in shock. "What!?" He exclaimed, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his robes.

"I know, that's what _I_ said!" Lydia exclaimed, mistaking his meaning. "Honestly, I told her, you'd never in a million _years_ go for a girl like Evans. Especially when you have a girl like me..." She dragged her finger down James' arm, and he suppressed the urge to vomit. Honestly, Lydia must be the densest, most conceited...

And oh, the irony of what Lydia was spewing off was enough to make James laugh out loud, which of course he did. He then took a big swig of firewhiskey and sighed in satisfaction.

Lydia smiled at him a puzzled sort of way, and he slung his arm around her. "You have nothing to worry about. I don't think Evans will be taking your place anytime soon." Which was true, of course, because Lydia didn't really have a place in James's life to begin with.

"Good," she replied, kissing him on the cheek.

"If you're going to act like idiots, could you please do so on the other side of the corridor? Your stupidity might be contagious."

_Speak of the devil..._James looked around and stared over Lydia's head at Evans, who was standing about three meters away with one hand on her hip. He had been so preoccupied with not thinking about her that he didn't even hear her walk up. His hand once again found itself planted in his hair.

"Is there any particular reason why you're staring at me, Potter, or is it just because you can't come up with a decent comeback?"

Lydia detangled herself from James and flashed Evans a look of loathing. "Back off, _bitch_," she spat, and James watched as Evans merely smirked in reply. "Hey, I bet it was you who stared all those rumors about you and James!" Lydia pointed one of her perfectly manicured fingers at the bespectacled redhead.

"Oh, you've caught me!" Evans said in the most sarcastic voice James had ever heard. She threw one arm over her eyes and set her legs apart dramatically, her braids swinging around dangerously. "I am just so completely and utterly in love with James Potter that I told everyone that we're an item! I can't help it, he's just so," she lowered her arm and narrowed her eyes menacingly at James, "_Irresistible_."

Something about the way she said that made James's stomach drop, like he had just dove fifty feet on his broomstick. He swallowed and managed to glare back into Evans's emerald eyes.

Lydia, who had flinched at Evans misleading and slightly provocative declaration, gripped James's arm, whether from jealousy or fear, but James couldn't tell. Both were likely.

Evans smirked at the two of them. "Still tongue-tied, Potter?"

James narrowed his eyes. "That could be it, or it may just be because I was so distracted by your hideous-"

But before he could finish his sentence, the door to Professor McGonagall's classroom opened and hit the wall with a distinct _thud_. She walked out, her shoes clacking along the stone floor.

"There you two are. I was beginning to worry that you had killed each other before even making it to my classroom. What a pity that would be...Oh, and Mr. Potter," she said, turning around and looking at said boy over her shoulder, "I would watch what you say around Miss Evans. Professor Flitwick tells me that she's exceptional at Charms. So unless you'd like your head turned into a dancing teapot that sings the school song every hour, I'd watch my tongue when she's about."

James stared in shock at McGonagall, who smiled and continued into the classroom with Evans trailing her. James didn't miss the smirk on _her_ face, either. _Is it just me, or is the entire world out to get me today?_ He wondered.

"Oh, and I'm sorry, Miss Cook, but friends are not allowed to accompany those with detentions at this school. You may return to your common room now."

James looked down at Lydia, who still held his arm in a sort of death grip. "Fine," she sniffed. "Goodnight Jamie." She made a show of kissing him on the mouth before glaring at Evans and running off.

McGonagall sniffed in an annoyed fashion and turned to head into the classroom. Evans rolled her eyes hugely at James before following McGonagall.

"Alright, now the two of you are to sort through all of these papers here," McGonagall held up a stack about half a meter high, "And place them in the respective box based on year. Then, when you finish with that, you may proceed to wipe down all of the desks and chairs, seeing as Mr. Filch has been neglecting his duties. Any questions?"

Neither Evans nor James said anything. McGonagall looked back and forth between the two of them before saying, "Remember, the two of you are in detention for fighting. If I so much as catch the two of you looking at each other wrong, I will give both of you another week's worth of detentions. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Professor," the two students chimed at the same time, then turned to glare at each other.

"It better be," McGonagall said sternly, pushing her square glasses up her nose. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." And then she was gone.

James set down his bag and looked sideways at Evans, who took a deep breath and walked over to the stack of papers. She grabbed a handful and began sorting.

After a few minutes, she looked up and glared at him. "Well, are you going to help me, or would you rather just stand there watching me all evening? I'm sure your girlfriend would just _love_ that."

"What's your problem? What did Lydia ever do to you?" James asked, picking up a small stack of papers as instructed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you not just paying attention a few moments ago? She called me a bitch."

"So? It's true."

Evans looked up from her pile. "Yes, and she's a conceited, overbearing ditz who has absolutely nothing in her brain, but you don't hear _me_ calling that to her face."

"That's not-"

"Oh, don't defend her. You _know_ I'm right. And you probably _agree_ with me, too."

James said nothing. After all, he _did_ agree with everything Evans was saying. He had just never voiced it so...bluntly.

Evans smiled in triumph. "See? If you think so little of her, why are you dating her?"

"Hey, you said it, not me."

"Yes, but I'm not the one she hangs off of like a leech, thank God."

"Not that it's any of your _business_, Evans, but did you ever stop to think that I might happen to really like conceited, overbearing ditzs who have absolutely nothing in their brains?"

"Oh yes," Evans said, not missing a beat as she grabbed more papers from the pile. "Why else would you go around sleeping with half the school?"

James stared at her. "Was that supposed to be an insult?"

"No, it was a compliment," Evans said in her usual sarcastic way, still focused on her sorting.

James watched her for a bit as she worked. She had a rhythm going, and it was a bit...calming, almost.

"You know, Potter, staring at me like that won't get us out of here any faster."

"That's true, but it'll mean less work for me."

Evans rolled her eyes again without replying, and James' mind shifted back to the rumors Lydia had informed him of earlier. He wondered briefly who had started them, and why. Then he found his thoughts drifting back to Evans, and everything he had found out about her in the past few weeks. She was so distant from the world, so secluded and mysterious in her small group of friends.

And then there was the whole beauty thing. James wondered how many people knew about the _real_ Lily Evans. He seemed to be one of the select few. And for whatever reason, the thought made James smile a little.

Sirius was right, James really did need to get laid, and fast, or else he may start thinking about Evans constantly.

_Oh wait, I already do. Shit._

* * *

Lily Evans's brain was screaming at her.

_Are you **trying** to get yourself killed? Do you want him to tell everyone your secret? Because if you do, by all means, insult him some more! I'm sure **that** would help!_

Lily would never, ever admit it to anyone, but she was scared out of her mind at the moment. Her situation was so dependent upon the boy rifling though papers next to her that one slip of the tongue could make her the talk of the school. And she really, really didn't need that at the moment.

Lily sighed and looked at the paper in her hands, an evil smirk coming over her face as she read the name. _Patrick Greenly_.

_Well,_ _well,_ she thought, looking at the grade. _So Greenly's failing Transfigurations..._

"What are _you_ so happy about?" Potter asked her from across the room, where he was absentmindedly sorting some third-years' papers.

Lily just held up Greenly's paper, grinning evilly. After moving closer to see it, Potter said, "Wow, our Head Boy's an idiot."

"You just figured that out?" Lily asked, still smiling.

"No," Potter replied, only he was no longer looking at the paper. Not that Lily noticed.

"This is just what I've been looking for. Now I've finally got something to show to the Professor Dumbledore. He'll _have_ to strip him of his title after this."

"You really hate him, don't you? Greenly?" Potter asked, still standing next to Lily.

"Are you kidding? After what he did to Em-" Catching herself, Lily turned her head quickly to look at him, and found that Potter was _right there_, staring at her with those annoyingly mischievous and warm hazel eyes of his. Lily felt her stomach plummet slightly, though she honestly had no idea why. It wasn't like she _fancied_ Potter or anything.

"After what he did to...Emmica?" Potter asked, not moving away from her. "What'd he do?"

Lily, not caring to tolerate his closeness any longer, turned her head and went back to her sorting, setting Greenly's paper aside. "Nothing. It's not my place to tell you."

"Well it obviously is if you want to have him kicked out of office. What did he do to her?" Potter had an oddly intense look on his face, and Lily wondered if he was always so..._protective_ of his ex-girlfriends. "Wait, does this have anything to do with why you beat him up last month?"

Lily froze, then looked up at Potter. "How do you-"

"Remus told me," Potter said, and Lily saw something bizarre flicker through his hazel eyes.

"Oh. Right," Lily said, trying and failing to calm herself down. That was another thing she didn't need people to know - she beat up the Head Boy. "I forgot he was there. Of course he'd tell you."

"Yeah, well..." Potter said, shrugging and going about his work. "I thought," he said suddenly, looking back up at her, "That it was pretty awesome that you could beat up a guy for pissing you off, but I guess you were just being noble, huh?"

Lily snorted. "I'd hardly call it 'noble'. More like I was upset that he was being a total ass to the girl he was dating. That and he lied to me and tried to feel me up. That guy has issues respecting people's personal bubbles."

"He tried to feel you up? When was this?" Potter asked, and Lily noticed with some bemusement that he seemed annoyed.

"You were there, remember? At the moronic party you threw after the Quidditch game? _You_ were the one glaring at the back of Greenly's head."

"Oh, right..." Potter said, and Lily could tell by the way his face darkened that he did, in fact, actually remember.

"So it wasn't being 'noble' as much as getting revenge for wasting my time trusting him." Lily finished her stack of papers and walked across the room to get some more when it struck her that she was having a civilized conversation with James Potter. While serving detention with him.

How weird could one day get?

The clock on the wall chimed eight and, setting her papers down, Lily looked out one of the windows behind McGonagall's desk. The grounds were dark, but the a sliver of the moon was out and the night sky was peppered with stars. From her position, Lily could see the inky waters of the lake as they came crashing to the shore in swelling waves. She sighed, her breath fogging up the widow panes slightly, and turned to go back to her work.

Or at least she would have, if Potter hadn't been standing right there.

"What're you looking at?" He asked, his voice a bit lower than normal.

"Nothing," Lily replied easily. "Just the waves on the lake."

Potter said nothing, but he reached out and touched the glass to Lily's right, brushing her shoulder lightly in the process.

Shifting away from the bespectacled boy in front of her, Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _I have to do this,_ she thought, before saying, "Potter, I...I have a favor to ask of you."

Said boy turned his head and looked at her with his eyebrows raised. When he said nothing, Lily continued, looking at the ground and twisting her hands.

"I...I know what you said before, about...about telling people about...me. And...I will tell people, someday. It's just...I'm not ready to let people see how I really am yet. A lot of...bad things have happened to me because of how I look, and I'd really, really like to not have to go though that...ever again." She closed her eyes for a moment, then continued. "So...so please...don't tell anyone. Not even Remus, or the others. I'll...I'll tell them, and everyone...when I'm ready."

When Potter didn't say anything, Lily looked up and found him staring at her intently, a very odd look in his eyes.

_He's gonna say no,_ Lily thought, terror seizing her. She quickly looked down and felt tears pricking her eyes. After all her years of hiding, James Potter was going to reveal her secret to the school. She was going to have to face the demon that had tormented her since birth, that had forced people to judge her and hate her before even meeting her, that had lead to the destruction of the only family she had ever had.

James Potter, in all truth, was going to kill her.

But Lily knew that showing how much his decision on this would affect her life would only make her look weak, so she swallowed her tears and took a deep breath. Steeling herself for the worst, Lily looked up at him.

"Look, I know you hate me, and I can't say that I'm too fond of you either," she began, weighing each word carefully before speaking. "But I need to know, despite how outlandish it sounds, that I can trust you. I need you to give me your word that you'll tell no one." As an after-thought, she added, "Remember what McGonagall said, Potter. I'm not first in Charms for nothing."

Potter seemed to consider her for a while before replying. "Fine, Evans, I won't tell anyone about you or your little secret. But you may want to keep in mind that _I_ am first in Transfigurations, and could probably give you a run for your money."

Lily nearly collapsed in relief, but instead braced herself on the stone wall behind her. She quickly masked her joy and looked up at Potter through her eyelashes. "Thanks," she said, then picked her abandoned stack of papers up and carried them over to an unused desk at the other end of the classroom.

"Oh, and Potter?" Said boy looked up curiously at Lily, who was gazing at him over her shoulder. "There's absolutely no way in hell you could _ever _give me a run for my money." With one last smirk in his direction, Lily turned back to her work.

* * *

James stared at Evans's back for a moment after she had turned around.

God, how could anyone person be so dynamic? One minute she was practically sobbing, then fiery, then totally sarcastic, then practically sobbing again. And that was just today.

Shaking his head, James went back to sorting through countless papers. He had to admit, though, that Evans was a lot more fun to be around when she was being a complete bitch. It was sort of...invigorating to be around someone who could just think up insults off the top of her head the way Evans did. She was really unlike any other girl James had ever been with, and that intrigued him.

Realizing that he had just insinuated that he was _with_ Evans, James groaned out loud, making Evans look over at him.

"What, do you _fingertips_ hurt?" She asked.

"Ha ha," James replied sarcastically. After pausing for a second over his stack of papers, he asked, "Hey, I'm hungry."

Without looking up, Evans said, "Thank you for sharing, but not everyone in the world cares about your bodily functions, Potter."

"Bitch," James whispered, but he knew Evans heard. "Wanna go get something to kitchens?"

Evans looked up and shot him a distinct _are you a complete idiot?_ look. "And face the wrath of McGonagall? I think not."

James flashed her a smile and reached into his bag, where the Marauders' map was carefully concealed. "Come on, Evans. Living a life of cowardice is just...meaningless."

And at that, he, of course, had her.

* * *

A/N: As I was writing the ending of this, I was seized by a sudden allergy attack and my eyes started watering nonstop and I sneezed about 12 times in a row. I looked like I was sobbing. So take pity on me and review, dammit! Unless you want to be siezed by a sudden allergy...trust me, I've got plenty to spare...

Well, until next time! (Hopefully not too far off...)

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	14. Tea Cupboards

A/N: …Yeah, so it's been awhile, hasn't it? Uh…4 months to be exact…I am so sorry!

Oh my god...HP IN 9 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!! (You know it's a big deal when I use excess punctuation.)

So I saw Pirates 3 (A loooooong time ago...), and it was totally beyond amazing! My friends and I all dressed up again, and it was really cool that _everyone_ stared at us! I mean, who doesn't like being stared at?

There's this song called I Will Follow You Into The Dark that I really like. I heard it one day and decided that it's the perfect rainy day song. Like, you're sitting at your windowseat, watching the rain fall as you sip tea, and this is the song that's playing. It's really cool. There's another one called Bohemian Like You by The Dandy Warhols that's a really good dance-around-your-room-in-your-underwear song. (Not that I've ever done that before...)

Also, if any of you are into the Legend of Zelda, read my friend MoonBell004's fic, Link: Wings of Courage. It's sorta an AU, but I beta it and it's totally awesome. You don't even have to know the background story to understand it. It's really good, so read it!

I just got back from a family roadtrip to Washington DC, so if you're wondering why it _really_ took me so long to update, that would be why. That and I had to rewrite this chapter twice. I've never been so disgusted with my work as I was the frist two times, so hopefully you'll all enjoy this one, because I'm not rewriting it again, thank you very much.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Bubb1eTea, Music Whore MCR's bitch, Untamed Loner, Sweettarts, futurePOTUS, featherfinger, Sunny Sammy, Thosewhocan'twrite-comment, rockstar-101, mauraudersminuspeterarehot, Galasriniel, firewalker32, haha, reeltreble1031, LovelyCheshireGrin, -Scp-, Briee, goodie2shoes19, lifebeforetaxes, Akt5us, candio08, Forgotten Lake, Tayler, serindraxx, Herb3, pnkpnthr08, Siruisblack18, Fiery Flower, I love JP, hawaiiangirl258, Anjali, mrsweller, novel-writer92, NaNaLiLy, LoZzA, FallenMystery, and leannie123! -Huggles everyone-

Well, onto chapter 14!

Disclaimer: Somehow, I think all of you get it by now. I own nothing.

* * *

Lily Evans could not honestly believe that she could possibly be so bloody stupid.

Seriously, how many times in her life had she gotten detention for having a verbal bashing session with a _guy_ and then gone gallivanting around the school _during_ said detention with said guy?

Yeah, the answer would be never. Lily wasn't dumb enough to do that.

_Heh, wrong_, she thought to herself as she trailed like an overly affectionate puppy behind Potter, whose eyes were trained hard on some sort of map. She glanced behind her for what seemed like the twentieth time as the two made their way to the kitchens. _Damn my stupid pride. _

Several minutes went by in silence. "What are you looking at?" Lily finally asked, trying to glimpse the paper over Potter's shoulder. It was a futile attempt, however, seeing as her eyes were barely level with his shoulder blade.

"It's a map," Potter replied, not looking up from the weathered papers in his hands.

"Oh, thank you _so_ much. I had absolutely _no_ idea." Lily rolled her eyes. "I _meant_, why are your eyes glued to it like a Playboy magazine?"

Glancing back at her and smirking, Potter said, "Silly Evans, I have no use for Playboy when I can look at the real thing."

Not rising to his bait no matter how flirtatious it might be, Lily replied, "I'll bet you don't, but that didn't answer my question."

"It wasn't meant to."

"So answer it, then."

"No."

"And why not, exactly?"

"Because I don't want to."

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes for the second time on their trek. "Boys are so immature," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Hey, don't belittle my gender," Potter said, looking back at her again.

"You're doing a fine job of _that_ yourself." Lily crossed her arms and looked at the wall as the two passed a broom cupboard.

Of course, Potter chose that moment to stop dead in his tracks while staring at his beloved map, and Lily, who wasn't paying attention, barreled right into his back.

Taking several steps away from Potter, Lily said, "What're you -"

And then she heard it - footsteps coming down the corridor they were currently wandering around in. Her eyes widened as she realized exactly how much trouble they were going to be in if they got caught.

Before she could do anything rash, Potter grabbed Lily's arm and hurled her unceremoniously into the broom cupboard they had passed moments before. He quickly followed, closing the door behind him and turning his back to her to stare at the blocked entrance. "Filch," he spat out in a whisper.

Most of her composure gone, Lily said, "What are we gonna do?"

"_Shh_," Potter hissed, whirling around and pressing his hand to her mouth. He pushed Lily's back into the wall and looked over his shoulder, his eyes searching for something in the dark. "Don't say anything," he whispered.

_Right, like I can say anything with your hand shoved up my mouth_, Lily thought, her panic momentarily forgotten. She narrowed her eyes at Potter, who turned his head to stare down at her cautiously.

_Well, at least he knows this is all his fault._

As the seconds ticked by, Lily's attention strayed from the fact the Filch was wandering around just outside the broom cupboard. She was still pinned up against the wall by Potter, a position she most certainly did _not_ want to be in. Of course, her disgust didn't stop her from noticing the way the material of his pants brushed against the few inches of skin exposed between her skirt and her knee socks. It gave her goose bumps, and she had to fight the urge to shove him away from her.

Then the footsteps stopped directly in front of the closet the two were hiding in.

_Oh shit... _Lily's mind shifted back into full panic mode. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for Filch to open the door and discover the two of them there.

She waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Cracking one eye open, Lily stared at the door over Potter's shoulder and listened intently. And then, much to Lily's surprise and utter relief, the footsteps started again, walking away from the duo's current refuge.

Lily let out the breath she'd been holding in a heavy sigh and slumped against the wall behind her just as Potter removed his hand from her mouth.

"Fuck," she whispered, closing her eyes again and massaging her lids with her cool fingers. "That was far too close."

"You could say that again," Potter replied backing away from Lily and running a hand through his permanently messy hair. He placed his other hand on the wall to Lily's left to steady himself.

A moment passed. "Well, then, there's no use hiding in here anymore," Lily said, pushing herself off the wall. When Potter didn't move, she ducked under his arm, her back brushing him slightly as she did so. She ignored Potter's sharp intake of breath and seized the door handle.

As if just to annoy her, it was locked._ Oh lovely. Locked in a broom cupboard with Potter..._

Sighing and pulling out her wand, Lily muttered, "Alohamora," and the lock click open. She pulled the door open and sped out, glad to be back in the hallway and not crammed in a tiny broom cupboard with James Potter.

"Aren't you coming, or do you like hiding in the dark?" Lily asked, turning around when Potter didn't come out after her.

Potter ran his hand through his hair for a second time and left the confines of the closet. "So, um, d'you want to go back, then?"

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked, crossing her arms.

"I just figured that since Filch almost caught us, you'd want to go back to McGonagall's classroom."

Something about the way Potter said that gave Lily an odd thirst to prove herself. It was a trill that coursed through her veins and made her want to do something reckless.

"Of course I don't want to go back," she said, mildly outraged and surprised that he thought that she was that cowardly. "We've come this far, haven't we? I'm not a scared little girl, in case you didn't notice." Lily walked up to him as if daring him to say otherwise.

But instead of arguing, Potter smiled and said, "You've got more guts than I give you credit for, Evans."

"You better believe it," Lily replied, turning from him. "Now let's go before Filch comes back. I may have a backbone, but I really don't want to be caught wandering around a corridor with the likes of you."

"Fine by me," Potter said, quickly catching up to her. "Lead the way."

* * *

James Potter really wasn't all that hungry. 

Well, actually, he was, but he was a bit distracted from his initial goal of getting food at the moment.

It was, of course, Evans' fault.

The odd part was that she wasn't even doing anything. Well, that wasn't true. She was _breathing_, along with looking around in wonder at the kitchens, her beautiful green eyes wide with enthusiasm.

"I cannot believe we didn't get caught," she said, one corner of her mouth lifting up into a tiny smile.

James felt his stomach go funny. _Must be hungrier than I thought_, he said to himself.

A tiny house-elf whose head barely reached James' knees hurried towards them and bowed so low that his nose practically touched the ground. "What can I get for you, Sir and Miss?" It asked, its gigantic blue eyes shining.

Evans looked at James, who shrugged and said, "Whatever's left over from dinner."

"And you, Miss?"

Evans smiled at the little thing. "May I please have some peppermint tea and a croissant?"

"Of course, Miss. Right away." The house-elf scurried away to go fetch them their orders, and Evans turned and sat down on at one of three small bistro-like tables.

"A croissant? What are you, French?" James asked, just to fill the silence.

"Yes, actually," Evans replied, looking over at him with an eyebrow raised. "My mum was half French, half Irish."

"Oh," James said stupidly, glancing over to where the elves were preparing their food. "So, uh..."

"I'm guessing that you're not too great when it comes to small talk, eh?" Evans said, taking off her glasses and cleaning them on the bottom of her shirt.

"Actually, I normally am. It's just that I really have no idea what to say to you."

"Is that so? Then why did you drag me down here to the kitchens with you?"

"Mostly so that you wouldn't go off and snitch to McGonagall."

Evans snorted as she placed her glasses lightly back on her nose. "Please. McGonagall told us not to leave the classroom. I'd've been as guilty as you if I'd gone to tell her."

"I suppose you're right."

"I find that that's usually the case."

"God, you're cocky," James said, running a hand through his hair.

"There's a difference between being cocky and being confident in one's abilities," Evans said, shrugging. "Besides, who are _you_ to call _me_ cocky?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh please, you're the cockiest person in the entire school."

"I'm not cocky, just confident -"

"In your abilities. _Right_. Only someone who is truly cocky would quote that after me," Evans stated, shaking her head slightly.

James opened his mouth to retort, but the house-elves chose that moment to deliver their food. Seeing the roast beef, potatoes, gravy, steamed vegetables and biscuits made James mouth water and his stomach growl.

"Hungry, are you?" Evans asked, humor evident on her face.

"Well, we _are_ in the kitchens," James said, sitting down across from the redhead as a house-elf handed her the tea and croissant she had ordered.

"Thank you," she said to it.

"Not at _all_, Miss," it replied, bowing again and scurrying off once more.

James lifted a rather large chunk of beef into his mouth and savored the taste. Hogwarts really did have the best food.

At the same time, Evans cradled her teacup and drank deeply. "Mmmmmm," she moaned, her eyes closed.

Swallowing, James said, "You may want to watch who you do that around. Someone might get the wrong idea."

Evans' eyes flew open and her face went red. "You are so crude," she said, kicking James' leg under the table.

"_Ow_," James said, looking from his leg to her in shock. "You kicked me."

"No shit, Sherlock," she replied, putting her hands on her scarlet cheeks. "You deserved it."

"What, for making you blush?"

Evans went even redder at that. "No, for being an incredibly tactless prick," she said, her teeth gritted.

James stifled a laugh. Evans was very...interesting when she was embarrassed.

"Are you _laughing_ at me?" She asked, dropping her hands.

"Um, no," James said, very obviously laughing.

"You arse!" Evans exclaimed, whacking James on the arm.

"Well, you're certainly violent," he said, rubbing his injured appendage.

"Only when people deserve it."

"Must be that redhead temper of yours," James teased.

Evans rolled her eyes at him, taking another sip of her tea. A few seconds went by before James broke the silence.

"So...you're friends with Remus, right?" He asked, and instantly regretted it. Of all things, why did he choose to talk about Moony?

"Ah...yes," Evans replied, looking down into her tea cup. "We've been studying together for Potions since the middle of first year."

James felt that familiar feeling in the pit of his stomach. So Remus really _was_ friends with Evans...but there was something about the way she had said it that seemed...odd.

"...So then why are you acting all sad about it, if you two are such great friends?" The words came out a bit more bitter than James had intended.

Evans looked up at him, apparently surprised at his tone. "I didn't say we were _great_ friends. I mean, we don't really do anything together, not like you do. We just study and hang out at the occasional Quidditch game."

James definitely hadn't been imagining it - there was something almost wistful about the way Evans spoke about Remus. Deciding to change the subject before he got into a conversation he couldn't get himself out of, James said, "So you like Qudditch, then?"

"It's alright. I'm not really much of a sports person. I suppose watching it _is_ fun, though. It's sort of a novelty, like football games for American Muggle high schools."

"Football?" James asked, wishing for the first time in his life that he'd paid attention in Muggle Studies.

"Oh, that's right," Evans said. "You don't watch movies."

"Movies?"

Evans sighed and shook her head. "Seriously, how can you not know what a movie is?"

"Maybe because I'm not Muggle-born."

"But still, don't you do stuff during the summer?"

"Well, yeah," James replied. "I play Quidditch and hang out with the guys and go to Diagon Alley occasionally..."

"And...that's it?" Evans questioned. James realized that he was making it seem like he didn't even have one iota of a life.

"For the most part," he answered, feeling completely stupid.

Sighing, Evans slumped back in her chair. "You seriously need to get out more."

"Don't I know it," James muttered under his breath. He was, after all, sitting in the kitchens and watching Lily Evans sip tea. He quickly took a large bite of roast beef, only to discover that it was growing cold.

"Do all guys eat the way you do?" Evans asked, her nose crinkling in slight disgust.

"What d'you' mean?" James asked, before shoving a forkful of potatoes into his mouth.

"Like you haven't eaten anything for a year. Seriously, if I ate that much that fast, I'd either choke or throw up."

"Well then, it's a good thing you're not a guy, isn't it?" James asked, grinning despite his mouth being full. Evans blanched.

James laughed at the face Evans was making. When she wasn't acting all high strung, Evans was quite interesting to be around.

Realizing that he had just had an alarmingly pleasant thought about Evans, James shoved another forkful of beef into his mouth.

"Well, that's one thing for you to do this summer," Evans said, sipping her tea again.

"What?" James asked. He had been too focused on Evans to hear what she had been saying.

"What, were you concentrating too much on eating to hear me? I said you have to see a movie this summer," she replied, setting down her teacup. "Probably an American one, since you don't know what their football is."

"And why am I doing this again?" James asked, waving his fork at her.

"Because of your blatant ignorance."

"Well, I'll only go see a movie if you come with me."

Evans busied herself with picking apart her croissant. "In your dreams, Potter."

"Oh, but you are."

Evans looked up, startled, and dropped her croissant.

James broke out laughing. "You should have seen your face," he choked out, gasping for breath.

"That was not funny," Evans said coolly, her hands going to her face, which was, once again, blazing red.

"It was," James replied, grinning. Then he leaned forward and whispered into Evans' ear, "But I wasn't joking."

"Oh my _God_," Evans said, pushing her chair back from the table and away from him. "You are such a _pig_."

"Every other girl says I'm romantic."

"Yeah, well apparently ever other girl is either delusional or completely stupid. Besides, I'm not the type of girl that you use pick up lines on."

"Oh yeah? Then what type of girl are you, Lily Evans?" James asked, settling back into his chair and looking the redhead straight in the eye.

"The kind that doesn't fall for the popular jock who looks up at them through hooded eyes like you're doing now."

James blinked. "Then what kind of guy _do_ you fall for?"

Evans gave him a flat look. "The kind that actually has a brain."

"Ouch," James said, putting his hand to his heart, a look of pain fluttering over his face. "That hurt, Evans."

"Oh yeah? What happened to 'Sticks and Stones'?" Evans asked, pulling her chair back up to the table and nibbling on her croissant.

"'Sticks and Stones'? What are you on about?"

Evans sighed heavily. "Okay, you seriously need to get out more if you've never heard of 'Sticks and Stones'."

James stared at her for a moment. "...Well, go on then. What about sticks and stones?"

Swallowing, Evans said, "There's a phrase that every kid learns in kindergarten - that's kinda like a school that you go to before you start grade school. When someone says something mean that hurts your feelings, you say, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.'"

James looked at her for a second. "Well that's complete bullshit."

"Excuse me?" Evans asked, apparently surprised by his reaction.

"'Words can never hurt me'? Whoever made up that saying obviously had really good self esteem. I've seen what words can do to people."

Evans gazed at him as if she'd never seen him before. "That was really profound. Who'd've thought that you could come up with a phrase like that?"

"Well, I do surprisingly well, considering that I apparently have no brain," James replied, grinning at her.

Evans blinked at him, then, amazingly, began to laugh. James, surprised that Evans actually _could_ laugh, joined in, his meal forgotten.

"Wow," Evans said, catching her breath once the laughter subsided, "You're actually not as horridly clueless as I thought you were."

James gasped in mock amazement. "Was that actually a complement that just came out of your mouth?"

"Don't push it," Evans replied, emptying her tea cup of its contents. James grinned at her, knowing that he had, miraculously, given Evans a reason to smile.

And what an achievement _that_ was.

* * *

Lily could not believe that Potter had actually made her laugh. 

Potter - James Potter, the one she despised and completely loathed - had made her, Lily Evans, the Ice Queen, laugh.

_What a weird day I'm having,_ Lily thought as she and said laugh-inducer snuck back to McGonagall's classroom.

"So, what are we gonna do if McGonagall's already there?" Lily asked Potter, looking sideways at him.

"I dunno, lie?"

"Oh wow, like that could work. What are we gonna do, say, "But Professor McGonagall, we were here the whole time'?"

"It could work."

"Yeah, and Filch could come running down here wearing nothing but a tutu screaming the School Song," Lily replied, rolling her eyes.

Potter shrugged. "It could happen."

"You are so hopeless," Lily said, shaking her head.

Smirking down at her, Potter replied, "Sticks and stones, love, sticks and stones."

* * *

A/N: I was debating whether or not to use the last line (Which is from Pirates, by the way). Seemed a little too familiar, right? Then I decided, 'What the hell? It's James!' That made it all ok, somehow.

Well, please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	15. Guilty Girlfriends

A/N: So I was looking at my stories, and I realized that it has been over a year since I updated! I AM SO SORRY. I hate authors who do that and will never take that long to update ever again.

To be honest, it took me a while to remember where I was going with this story. Then, as you can see, I remembered. Kinda. I basicaly had to reread everything, but at least I'm here now, right?

Anyway...onto chapter 15!

Disclaimer: Urg, there is no creative energy left in my. I own nothing but the plot.

* * *

James Potter was going to break up with Lydia Cook.

Actually, he had been planning on doing so a long time ago, but he'd managed to get too distracted by Evans and her antics to really think much about the whole situation with his _actual_ girlfriend.

Then again, James didn't ever remember asking Lydia out, and even if he had, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Because number one, James Potter didn't have girlfriends, he had bedmates. And number two, even if he _did_ somehow manage to acquire the urge to get himself a steady girl - unlikely - Lydia Cook would certainly not be on the most preferred list.

With this in mind, James decided that breaking up with her wouldn't be that difficult. They technically weren't even going out, right?

Unfortunately, judging by the reactions of the other girls that he'd had, for lack of a better word, a _relationship_ with, that probably wasn't going to be the case. It seemed that they preferred the title of James Potter's Current Fling to being called James Potter's Used Goods.

Trying not to let this thought dampen his attempts at finding himself girlfriend-free, James entered the common room.

It didn't take him long to locate Lydia. She was sitting on one of the scattered plush arm chairs, a group of three other seventh year girls sitting on the floor by her feet. Said girls were looking up at Lydia in what appeared to be idol worship. She seemed to be telling them a very enthralling story, and they giggled and grinned like idiots as she leaned down closer to them to speak. James snorted at the way the others seemed to revere the obnoxiously shallow blonde.

Deciding that it was now or never, he stuck his hands into his pockets and approached the group. Before James reached them, however, one of the girls seated on the floor turned her head and, upon seeing him, promptly squealed and immediately informed Lydia of his coming.

Looking up with a startled expression, Lydia quickly smiled at him and called, "Hi, Jamesie!"

Inwardly cringing, James hitched what he hoped was a mildly cheerful smile on his face and said, "Hey, Lydia." As he spoke, he noticed that the three girls on the floor were giggling and whispering excitedly to one another behind their hands. He saw the quick glances they were throwing at him and knew instantly what their previous topic of conversation had been.

And while this revelation would normally make him grin rakishly and run his fingers through his hair, today it just made him feel exhausted.

"What's up?" Lydia asked, sitting up straighter in her chair. James turned his attention away from her friends and back onto his "girlfriend" just in time to see her bat her eyelashes at him.

"Nothing really. I was just wondering if I could have a word with you. _Alone_," he added as the other girls whipped their heads around to look up at him.

"Oh...sure," Lydia said, grinning. She stood, smoothed down her skirt, and dramatically flipped her long blonde hair before extending her hand for James to take.

Inwardly rolling his eyes, James took her hand and pulled her away from her friends and out the common room. Looking back at the portrait of the Fat Lady, Lydia asked uncertainly, "Where are we going?"

"Oh, just some place a bit less...crowded," he replied, hauling her along behind him. She giggled at that, and James made a mental note to never date a girl who giggled excessively ever again.

They reached and empty corridor and James towed Lydia over to a bench situated beneath a sunken window. "Sit," he said, and she conceded, smoothing her skirt around her.

"So, what did you want to 'talk' about?" she asked, looking up at James with what he was sure she thought was a seductive smile.

"Well, we've been dating, what, two months? Three?"

"Three and a half," Lydia supplied, still looking raptly up at James as he stood before her. He wondered vaguely if she'd been counting the minutes.

"Yeah, well, I was thinking about that, and I decided that it might be a good idea if we -"

"Shagged?" Lydia sent him a closed-lip smile that, a few weeks ago, might have had James eating out of her hand. "I think so too. You know, I'm surprised you didn't say anything sooner. I mean, I was, like, so stoked when you asked me out again. Seriously, you were the best boyfriend I've ever had, so why not, right? Sure, you're a year younger than me, but it doesn't even matter. To be honest, I was starting to get worried that we hadn't done it yet, since all those rumors were going around about you and that Evans girl and because we, like, did it after a week last time we dated. But I'm so glad you wanna do it now. Where should we go? Broom closet? Or we could sneak back into your dorm and -"

"Lydia," James interrupted, grabbing her shoulders before she could finish her irksome ranting. "That's not what I was going to say."

Lydia's face fell slightly. "Oh? Then what..." Some sort of realization seemed to dawn on her face. "You don't...you're not asking me to...to...to marry you, are you?" James blinked at her in utter bewilderment, and Lydia took his silence as an affirmative. Her eyes widened, then teared up, and she threw her arms around his neck. "Oh my God, yes! Yes, yes, yes!" she cried, squeezing James' neck so hard he could barely breathe.

James, trying hard to contain his extreme annoyance and his upchuck reflex, reached behind him and grabbed Lydia's hands from his neck before she could strangle him. Holding them in front of him, he said, "Lydia, I'm not proposing to you. I'm trying to say that I think we should see other people."

Lydia's smile froze on her face. "What?" she asked, a forced sort of sweetness to her voice.

"I said that I think we should see other people."

All of the color in Lydia's face drained and she wrenched her hands from James' grasp. "Are you breaking up with me?" she asked, her tone turning very nasty indeed.

"Technically, we were never really going out," James said, instantly regretting it when he saw the look on her face. James had never seen Lydia angry before, but it certainly wasn't pretty.

"_Excuse_ me?" She stood up quickly, and James had to back up a step to avoid being cuffed in the nose by the top of her head. "How _dare_ you? How dare you break up with me - _me_? It's that _girl_, isn't it? That - that Lily Evans bitch? The rumors _were_ true, weren't they? Oh, you...you...you're such a...you..." Seemingly unable to form a coherent sentence, Lydia violently back-handed him across the cheek and stormed off, her face red and her hands balled into fists at her side.

James watched her go, massaging his jaw. _Well, that takes care of that_, he thought. He sighed and sat down on the bench that Lydia had vacated. To be honest, he'd expected worse. Not that being smacked wasn't bad, but at least she hadn't refused to break up with him. That would've been messy.

Stretching his long legs out in front of him, James massaged his temples and managed - surprisingly - to clear his mind enough to let himself actually think.

It was quite a relief to be girlfriend-free once again. Not, though, that he had considered Lydia his girlfriend. Not really. But still, it felt good to finally be rid of her once and for all. Vowing that he would never again date a girl that clingy, James leaned his head back against the cool stone wall and closed his eyes.

It wasn't long before James heard footsteps coming down the corridor. Not thinking anything of it, James kept his eyes closed and waited for whoever it was to pass by.

That is, until he heard Sirius say, "God, Prongs, you look like you just fought your way through a battle scene. What the hell happened?"

Cracking on eye open, James sighed and said, "Long story. Got a fag?"

Sirius rolled his eyes and pulled a box of cigarettes out of his pants pocket. Plunking himself down on the bench next to James, he held the pack out to him. "That bad, huh?"

James snorted as he pulled a one of the slender white sticks from the box. He reached up behind him and opened the window above the bench. As he lit the tip of the cigarette, he said, "Don't you think you should be asking yourself that? You're the one who actually smokes these things."

Sirius chuckled as he watched smoke stream out of the side of his best friend's mouth. "Yeah, well, it adds to my bad boy image. Girls always go for the bad boys. What's your excuse?"

James was silent for a moment before saying, "I broke up with Lydia."

"Isn't breaking up something you do when you're in a relationship?" Sirius asked, lighting his own cigarette and inhaling deeply.

"Do I really need to answer that?"

Sirius held up both of his hands. "Hey, retract the claws, please. I just meant that usually you just shag girls and dump them on their asses. 'Breaking up' implies that you two actually had a serious relationship."

"For the record, you're the one who shags girls and then dumps them on their asses," James said. Sirius smiled wolfishly, and James continued, "And apparently I was in a 'serious' relationship with Lydia, but that's done with."

"You don't seem too upset about it," Sirius said, looking sideways at James. "At least you got to fuck her, right?"

"Yeah," James mumbled. He turned and tossed the charred remains of his cigarette out the window and let the wind carry it to the grounds below.

"But hey," Sirius said, taking a final drag on his own cigarette before he too threw it out the window. "Now you're free to go after Evans."

James groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "Why must you always bring her up?"

Sirius chuckled once again and whacked James on the shoulder. "Face it, Prongs, you think about that girl way more than any other I've ever seen. And the sooner you realize it, the sooner you can get it out of your system."

"Kinda hard _not_ to notice, when you keep bringing it up," James replied, throwing Sirius an accusing glare. Aforementioned boy laughed and once again whacked James on the shoulder.

"Someone has to be around to torture you." He grinned, and after a second, James grinned back. The two stood and James shut the window, waving his hand through the air to rid it of the scent of smoke. The two then headed back in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.

"So, how'd Lydia take it?" Sirius asked after a moment.

James sighed. "She was pissed. Kept asking if it was because of Evans."

"Evans?" Sirius asked, turning his head to look at James. "What, like accusing her of breaking the two of you up?"

"Pretty much," James replied, nodding.

"Well, then, mate, I'd be hurrying back now if I was you," Sirius said, taking a step away from James. "Your little ex may just be in the midst of starting a catfight with your darling Evans."

James looked at him for a moment, nonplussed, before saying, "Shit," and taking off down the hall. He was in such a rush that he didn't hear Sirius chuckling behind him.

* * *

Lily Evans was trying very hard to fall asleep.

This was, however, proving extremely difficult, as Dathan, Emmy, and Willow were playing a very loud game of Exploding Snap. Or rather, Dathan and Emmy were the loud ones, as Willow was being practically silent as usual.

"You've _got_ to be cheating," Emmy said, looking pointedly at Dathan, who was winning.

"I am not. I'm simply good at this," he replied, his nose in the air.

"Tell that to the seven cards you've got hiding up your sleeve," Willow interjected in her usual monotonous voice. Emmy looked at her, open-mouthed, before pouncing on Dathan and pulling the cards out of his sleeve.

"I _knew_ it," she cried triumphantly, whacking Dathan with the cards she had just taken from him. "You're a lousy cheat!"

"Ugh, would you guys please _shut up_?" Lily said, massaging her temples, her eyes still closed. "Seriously, I'm trying to sleep."

"Then why, pray tell, are you in _here_?" Dathan asked, waving his arm around the room. A loose card fell out of his sleeve and Emmy glowered at him.

"_You_ sleep in here all the time," Lily replied, spreading her arms out on the vast bed and staring up at the canopy with her now-opened eyes.

"Yes, but I am amazingly immune to the ever-present chatter you three always seem to dish out when _I'm_ trying to sleep. How d'you like _them_ apples?" Dathan said, laying a card down on top of the pile. It promptly and very literally blew up in his face.

"Serves you right," Emmy snickered as Dathan leapt up and waved his arm around to stop the flames from spreading up his sleeve. "You know you're not supposed to pick on girls like that."

"I second that," Willow said, laying her own card on top of the smoldering pile. "I'm out, by the way," she said to Dathan, who was still flapping his arms around like some sort of demented bird.

"You do have a wand, you know," Lily said lazily from her spot on the bed.

When Dathan did nothing but continue his flapping, Willow sighed, pulled out her own wand, and sent a stream of water onto Dathan's head.

"Gee, thanks, Will," Dathan said, sputtering and trying in vain to wipe the water out of his eyes, his sopping bangs hanging limply down in his face.

"God, ever heard of 'Stop, drop, and roll?'" Lily said, snickering.

Emmy giggled and pointed her own wand at Dathan, sending a jet of warm air at him. He grinned at her and pushed his hair out of his eyes. Then, looking accusingly between Lily and Willow, he said, "Why couldn't you guys be nice like her? _She_ obviously cares more about my comfort than either of you."

"I'm your sister, I'm not supposed to 'care about your comfort,'" Willow replied, eyeing Dathan lazily from her seat.

"You had it under control," Lily added from her spot on the bed. "Urg!" She brought her fists down hard onto the bed and sat up. "It's no good, I can't sleep here."

"Why are you so tired anyway, Lil?" Emmy asked, laying her remaining Exploding Snap cards down on top of the pile.

"To be honest, I don't even know," she said, plopping back down and turning onto her side. This was a downright lie. She knew why she'd been up for the past few nights.

She had finally received and invitation to Petunia's wedding.

It had been months since she had received the letter from her father informing her of the impending marital ceremony, but it wasn't like Lily had actually been expecting a formal invite. Please, this was Petunia she was talking about. There was nothing formal between the two of them.

To be perfectly honest, Lily had no desire to see her sister marry herself of to this Vernon Dursley, whoever he was. And she knew that no amount of pushing or prodding on her father's part could ever make Petunia want Lily there.

"Does this have anything to do with the letter you received this morning?" Willow asked, pulling a novel out of the small bookcase next to her and cracking it open.

"I didn't notice a letter..." Dathan said, poking the frayed remains of his sleeve with his wand and watching as it instantly mended itself.

Sighing, Lily said, "I got the invitation to Petty's wedding."

"Ah," Dathan said, looking up from his sleeve. Willow too glanced at Lily momentarily.

"Who's Petty?" Emmy asked, looking between the other three.

"My sister," Lily replied, gazing up into the canopy. "We don't get along," she added when Emmy's face failed to lose its confused expression.

"She's jealous of Lily for being a witch, so she's made it her personal mission in life to declare to the world how much of a freak Lily is," Dathan clarified, the dislike evident in his voice.

"Oh," Emmy replied, looking back at Lily. "That's horrible."

"That's Petunia."

"Are you gonna go?" Emmy asked.

Sighing once again, Lily said, "I dunno. Not by myself, that's for sure."

"We'll be there for moral support, of course," Willow said from behind her novel.

"'Course we will," Dathan agreed, grinning at Lily, who grinned back.

"Is anyone going to get that?" Willow asked suddenly, still not looking up from her book.

"Going to get what?" Emmy asked, looking curiously at Willow.

"Someone's practically beating the door down. And I have a hunch that if no one answers it soon, there will be trouble."

"...So why didn't _you_ answer it, then?" Dathan asked, crossing his arms. "You're the only one who heard it, after all."

"Guys, please," Lily said, sitting up. "Can you go just one day without arguing?"

Dathan and Willow both looked over at her and replied, "Nope."

Sighing heavily, Lily said, "Fine, _I'll_ get the door. Jeez." She rolled her eyes as she walked out of the room and trudged down the winding staircase, the knocking becoming more audible with every step. As she entered the room, she called, "I'm coming, _God_, just a second." She reached for the door handle and turned it. "Jeez, what d'you wa--" She cut off when she saw a seventh year girl, Lydia something or another looking murderously at the redhead from the hallway." "Can I help you?" She asked, slightly confused as to what the infamous blond bimbo would want with her.

"Yes, actually, you can," the girl spat out at her, and Lily flinched at her malicious tone. "You can stay the hell away from my boyfriend, you little skank."

"I beg your pardon?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You heard me, you little whore," Lydia said, taking a step towards Lily. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't know? The entire _school_ knows."

"They...what? You...you _know_?" Lily said, her jaw dropping and her eyes going as wide as saucers. _Shit_, her mind screamed at her. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!_

"Of course I know, you slut! _Everyone_ knows, it's not like we're all blind!"

Lily mouthed wordlessly as her brain went into shock. _They know. They all know. Oh God, they know. He must've told. Potter must've told. Oh God, he told._ "Everyone knows...?"

Lydia smirked and threw her hair haughtily over her shoulder. "Duh, everyone knows you're after James, you ugly little bitch! It's not like it wasn't obvious, with you following him around all the time like some creepy little stalker!"

Lily froze and whipped her head around to look at the older girl. "Wait, this is about _Potter_?"

"No shit, it's about James," Lydia said, looking down her nose at the younger girl in front of her. "But it's too late, because he's _my_ boyfriend, and no one messes with my men. So back off, little girly."

But Lily was too caught up in the wave of relief that washed over her to hear whatever nonsense Lydia was spouting off. Her shock melting away, Lily leaned onto her doorframe and let out a euphoric breath of laughter.

Lydia made her presence known once again by gasping loudly and taking a step back into the hallway. "How _dare_ you laugh at me?" She shrieked, and before Lily could register what she was about to do, Lydia brought her hand down and scratched her nails through Lily's right cheek.

Eyes tearing, Lily gasped and brought a hand to her check, covering her newly acquired wounds. "What the hell?" She said, her prior feelings of joy dissolving into hatred. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"Lily, are you okay," Emmy said from inside the dorm, her voice filled with worry. Apparently the others had heard the commotion.

Lydia smirked at Lily once again. "To teach you a lesson," she said, her voice icy. "No one laughs at me, and no one sure as hell tries to get my boyfriend to break up with me."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Lily asked, forcing her face into the older girl's. "I don't give a damn about your boyfriend. He can go fuck himself for all I care!"

Lydia gasped again and pushed her face back into Lily's. "You horrid, horrid bitch. How dare you talk about James that way? You are just a jealous little girl who needs to stop trying to get with other girl's boyfriends, and," she cast a withering glance down at Lily's clothing, "needs to gain a fashion sense."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Why would I ever want to be with Potter when all he does is shag shallow, worthless girls? You've probably contaminated him."

Lydia bristled and moved quickly towards the redhead, her clawed fingers outstretched. "I'll make you pay for that, you little--" Before Lydia could finish her sentence, Lily, sensing another attack, sucker-punched the blond in the stomach.

Lydia fell over onto the hallway carpet gasping, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. Dathan, who had come down the stairs just in time, looked over Lily's shoulder at the sprawled blond and said, "Nice one, Lils."

Lily simply stared down at Lydia, her eyes sparkling with adrenaline. "And that will teach you not to mess with _me_," she said, before closing the door firmly in Lydia's face.

* * *

James had just reached the common room when he saw a few girls carrying another moaning girl down the stairs.

_Not again_, he thought rushing up to them. When he reached the group, he was relieved to see that it was not Emmy that they were carrying, then instantly felt his stomach drop when he saw that it was Lydia instead.

"What happened?" he asked a girl sitting nearest to him.

"That sixth year bitch Evans punched her," the girl replied, holding on tightly to Lydia's hand.

"James..." Lydia said from her place on one of the common room's many couches. "She punched me, James. I didn't do anything to her, but she punched me..."

"Like hell you didn't," James said, pulling himself away when Lydia tried to grab at him. He stood and hurried up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. If Lydia had been punched, then there had obviously been a fight, and there was only one way to make sure that Evans was alright without bounding up the girls' stairway:

Evans Goth friend, Dathan.

* * *

A/N: Jeez, this is a long one. Hope you liked it!

Please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


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